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JOAN OF AUC. 



POPULAR 



History of France 



BY 



./ 



CHARLOTTE M. YONGE 



AUTHOR OF "the HEIR OF REDCLYFFE, "BOOK OF 



GOLDEN DEEDS," ETC. 



AUG 30 1894 



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BOSTON 
ESTES AND LAURIAT 

PUBLISHERS 



Copyright, 1879, 1894, 
By Estes and Lauriat. 



-IS? 

John Wilson and Son, Cambridge, U.S.A. 



PREFACE. 



THESE Stories on the History of France are meant for 
cliildren perhaps a year older tlian those on the History 
of England. They try to put such facts as need most to be 
remembered in a comprehensible form, and to attach some 
real characteristic to each reign; though, in later political 
history, it is diflacult to translate the leading ideas into any- 
thing that can enter an intellect of seven or eight years old. 
The gentleman who, some time ago, recommended teaching 
history backwards from our own time, could never have prac- 
tically tried how much harder it is to make la C/iarte or the 
Keform Bill interesting to the childish mind, than how King 
Kobert fed the beggars or William Rufus was killed by an 
arrow. Early history is generally personal, and thus can be 
far more easily recollected than that which concerns the mul- 
titude, who are indeed everything to the philanthropist, but 
are nothing to the child. Even the popular fairy tale has its 
princes and princesses, and the wonder tale of history can only 
be carried on in the infant imagination by the like dramat't 
personce. 

CHARLOTTE M. YONGE. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAP, 
1. — 

2.— 
3.— 
4. — 
5. — 
6. — 
7.— 
8.— 
9.~ 
10. — 
11.— 



The Old Kelts. B.C. 150 . 

The Roman Conquest. B.C. 67. a.d. 79 

The Conversion of Gaul. 100 --400 

The Frank Kuigdom. 450—533 

The Long-haired Kings. 533—681 . 

Carl of the Hammer. 681 

Carl the Great. 768 . 

The Carlings. 814—887 . 

The Counts of Paris. 887—987. 

Hugh Capet. 987—997 . 

Robert the Pious. 997—1031 

Henry I. 1031—1060 

Philip I. 1060—1108 

Louis VI. Le Gros. 1108—1137 . 

Louis YII. The Young. 1137—1180 

Philip H., Augustus. 1180—1223 . 

•The Albigenses. 1190 
Louis VIII., The Lion. 1223—1223 

-St. Louis IX. 1226 .... 
• Philip III. , The Hardy. 1271—1284 
Philip IV., The Fair. 1284—1314 . 

Louis X., Hutin. 1314—1316 
Philip v., Le Long. 1316—1322 
Charles IV., Le Bel. 1322 
Philip VI. 1350 

19. —John. 1350—1364 .... 

(V.) 



12. 
13. 
14. 
15.— 

16.— 
17.— 

18.— 



108 



185 



n. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAP. 

20.- 
21.- 
22.- 
23.- 
24.- 
25.- 
26.- 
27." 
28.- 
29.- 
30." 

31.- 

32. 

33.- 

34.- 

35.- 

36.- 

37. 

38.- 

39.- 

40. 

41. 

42. 

43. 

44. 

45. 

46. 

47. 

48. 



-Charles Y. 1364—1380 

— Charles YI. 1380—1396 . 

— Burgundians and Armagnacs. 1415 — 1422 
-Charles YII. 1422—1461 . 
-Louis XL 1461—1483 
-Charles YIII. 1483—1498. 
-Louis XII. 1498—1515 . 

— Francis 1. Youth. 1515 — 1526 . 
-Francis I. Middle Age. 1526—1547 
-Henry 11. 1547—1559 
-Francis 11. 1559—1560 . 

Charles IX. 1560—1572 , 
-Charles IX. 1572—1574 . 

— Henry III. 1574 . . . 
-Henry lY. 1589—1610 

— Louis XIIL 1610—1643 . 

— Louis XIY. Youth. 1643—1061 

— Louis XIY. Middle Age. 1 061— 1688 

— Louis XIY. Old Age. 1688—1715 
-Louis XY. 1715—1774 
-Louis XYI. 1774—1793 . 

— The Great French Revolution. 1792—1796 

— Napoleon I. 1790—1814 . 

— Louis XYIII. 1814—1824 . 

— Charles X. 1824—1830 . 

— Louis Philippe. 1830—1848 

— The Republic. 1848—1852 

— The Second Empire. 1852—1870 
The Siege of Paris. 1870—1871 

— The Communists. 1871. 



PAGE. 

209 
218 
227 
237 
'246 
257 
268 
276 
289 
, 300 

I 210 

. 322 

. 230 

. 340 

, 352 

. 364 

. 374 

. 383 

. 392 

. 402 

. 411 

. 420 

. 429 

. 437 

. 443 

. 452 

. 458 

. 465 

. 474 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



-»♦•- 



Frontispiece. 










Keltic Tribe . H 


The Gauls in Rome 








. 15 


Mounted Gauls .... 








19 


Roman Army in Gaul . 








22 


Yercingetorix surrenders to Caesar 








27 


Conversion of Gaul 








32 


Druid Sacrifice 








39 


Huns at Chalons 








45 


Death of Hlodimir's Children 








51 


The Meerwings 


> 






. 54 


Arabs had Dec imped . 








65 


Charlemagne at the Head of his Arm 


y 






70 


Baptism of Saxons by Charlemagne 








71 


Death of Roland 








75 


School of the Palace . 








. 79 


Barks of Northmen . . * 








81 


" He Shed Tears at the Sight " 








. 87 


Northmen before Paris 








. 91 


Count Eudes entering Paris . 








. 95 


Knights and Peasants . 








101 


Coronation of Hugh Capet 








. 109 


The Accolades . 








. 115 


Crusaders' March 






lis 


Robert and The Poor . 




• • 


. 12? 


(vii.) 











vm» 



List of Illustrations, 



"God willethit" 

The Leaders of the First Crusade 

Louis the Fat on an Expedition 

Crusaders' Keturn 

Capture of Acre . . 

The Battle of Muret . 

Death of Louis .... 

Colonna Striking the Pope 

Edward III. doing Homage 

" Bade them look out at the Sea " 

"This Way, Father" . 

Murder of the Marshals . . • 

The Attack on Marcel . 

Laying the Keys on Du Gueslin's Bier 

" Thou art Betrayed " 

The Night before the Battle of A gin court 

Murder of the Duke of Burgundy . 

Joan of Arc .... 

Joan of Arc examined in Prison 

Louis XL 

Interview of Louis XI. and Charles the Bold 

Charles YIII. Crossing the Alps 

Meeting of Charles and Amie of Brittany 

Charles VIIL .... 

Chevalier Bayard going to the Wars 

Bayard knighting Francis I. . 

Francis I. at Marignano 

Death of Bayard 

Capture of Francis I. . 

Breaking of the Statue of the Virgin Mary 

Duke of Orleans and Charles V. 

Guise at Metz .... 



List of Illustrations, 



IX. 



PAGE. 

Death of Henry II. ..... . 30T 


Francis II. and Mary Stuart . 






. 311 


Death of Francis II. 






. . . 315 


Massacre of St. Bartholomew . 






. 325 


Henry III. and Favorites 






. 331 


Murder of Guise 






. 335 


Henry IV. at Ivry 






. 341 


Henry lY. and Ministers 






. 345 


Henry becomes a Catholic 






. 347 


Concini and Mary de Medicis. 






. 353 


Louis VIII. and Albert de Luynes . 






. 357 


Richelieu and Father Joseph . 






. 361 


King and Cardinal 






. 364 


Death of Cardinal Mazarin 






. 369 


Louis XIV. in Cabinet 






. 371 


Theatrical Representation 






. 374 


Death of Turenne 






. 377 


Louis XIV. presenting King . 






. 383 


D^ath of Louis XIV. . 






. 389 


Maria Leczinska 






. 393 


Battle of Fontenoy 






. 397 


French Chateau 






. 402 


Louis XVI. 


.. 




. 403 


Marat . . 






. 413 


Tuileries 






. 423 


Battle of Waterloo 


. 




. 431 


Guizot .... 


• 


. 


. 447 


Versailles . . . 


• 


* 


. 469 




YOUNG FOLKS' HISTOKY OF FRANCK 



CHAPTER I. 



THE OLD KELTS. 



B.C. 150. 

I BEGAN the '' History of England " with Julius 
Caesar's landing in Britain, and did not try to 
tell you who the people were whom he found 
there, for I thought it Avould puzzle you ; but you 
are a little older now, and can understand rathei 

more. 

11 



12 Young Folks' History of France. 

You must learn that in the old times, before 
people wrote down histories, Europe was over- 
spread by a great people, whom it is convenient to 
call altogether the Kelts — fierce, bold, warrior 
people, who kept together in large families or 
clans, all nearly related, and each clan with a chief. 
The clans joined together and formed tribes, and 
the cleverest chief of the clans would lead the rest. 
They spoke a language nearly alike — the language 
which has named a great many rivers and hills. I 
will tell 3"0U a few. Ben or Pen means a hill. So 
we see that the Ap-pen-nine mountains were named 
by the Kelts. Again, Avon is a river. You know 
we have several Avons. Ren Avon meant the 
running river, and Rhine and Rhone are both the 
same word, differently pronounced. Sen Avon 
was the slow river — the Seine and Saone ; and 
Garr Avon was the swift river — the Garonne. 
There were two great varieties of Kelts- — the Gael 
and the Kjanry (you should call this word Kewmri) . 
The Gael were the tallest, largest, wildest, and 
fiercest, but they were not so clever as the black- 
eyed little Kymry. The Kymry geem to have 
been the people who had the Druid priests, who 
lived in groves of oak, and cut down mistletoe 
with golden knives ; and most likely they set up 



The Old KelU. 13 

the wonderful circles of huge stones which seem to 
have been meant to worship in ; at least, wherever 
those stones are the Kymry have been. But we 
know little about them, as all their knowledge was 
in verse, which the Druids and bards taught one 
another by word . of mouth, and which was never 
\vritten down. All we do know is from their 
neighbors the Greeks and Romans, who thought 
them very savage, and were very much afraid of 
them, when every now and then a tribe set otit on 
a robbing expedition into the lands to the south. 

When the Kelts did thus come, it was generally 
because they were driven from their own homes. 
There were a still fiercer, stronger set of people 
behind them, coming from the east to the west; 
and when the Kelts found that they could not hold 
their own against these people, they put their 
wives and children into wagons^ made of wood or 
wicker work, collected their oxen, sheep, and goats, 
called their great shaggy hounds, and set forth to 
find new homes. The men had long streaming 
hair and beards, and wore loose trousers of woollen, 
woven and dyed in checks by the women — tartan 
plaids, in fact. The chiefs always had gold collars 
round their necks, and they used round wicker 
shields, long spears, and heavy swords, and they 



14 Young Folks' History of France. 

were very terrible enemies. When the country 
was free to the west, they went on thither, and 
generall}' settled down in a wood near a river, 
closing in their town with a wall of trunks of trees 
and banks of earth, and setting up their hovels 
within of stone or wood. 

But if other clans whom they could not beat 
were to the west of them, they would turn to the 
south into Greece or Italy, and do great damage 
there. One set of them, in very old times, even 
manao-ed to make a home in the middle of Asia 
Minor, and it was to their descendants that St. 
Paul wrote his Epistle to the Galatians. Another 
great troop, under a very mighty Bran, or chief, 
who, in Latin, is called Brennus, even broke into 
the great city of Rome itself. All the women and 
children of Rome had been sent away, and only a 
few brave men remained in the strong place called 
the Capitol, on the top of the steepest hill. There 
they stayed for seven months, while the Bran and 
his Gauls kept the city, drank up the wine in the 
long narrow jars, and drove in the pale-colored, 
long-horned oxen from the meadow land round. 
The Bran never did get into the Capitol, but the 
Romans were obliged to pay him a great sum of 
money before he would go away. However, this 



aimimiiuiuuniuiinjimmiy;' 



'4!iy,-=S 



'^? 



^'^>M 



y 






1 -^^^ 



THE GAU1,S IX HOME. 



The Old Kelts. 17 

belongs to the history of Rome, and I only mean 
further to say, that the tribe who came with him 
stayed seventeen j^ears in the middle parts of Italy 
before they were entirely beaten. When the Kelts 
were beaten and saw there was no hope, they 
generally came within the enclosure they had made 
with their wagons, and slew their wives and chil- 
dren, set fire to everything, and then killed them- 
selves, that they might not be slaves. All the 
north part of Italy beyond the River Po was filled 
with Kelts, and there were many more of them 
beyond the Alps. So it came about that from the 
word Gael the Romans called the north of Italy 
Gallia Cis-Alpina — Gauls on this side the Alps; 
and the country westward Gallia Trans-Alpina, or 
Gaul beyond the Alps, and all the people there 
were known as Gauls, whether they were Gael or 
Kymry. 

Now, far uj) in Gaul, in the high ground that 
divides the rivers Loire, Saone, and Rhine, there 
were rocks full of metal, tin, copper, and some- 
times a little silver. The clever sailors and mer- 
chants called Phoenicians found • these out, and 
taught the Gauls to work the mines, and send the 
metals in boats down the Rhone to the Mediterra- 
nean sea. There is a beautiful bay where Gaul 



18 Youny Folks' History of France, 

touches the Mediterranean, and not only the Phoe- 
nicians found it out, but the Greeks. They came 
to live there, and built the cities of Marseilles, 
Nice, Antibes, and several more. Lovely cities 
the Greeks always built, with marble temples to 
their gods, pillars standing on steps, and gardens 
with statues in them, and theatres for seeing plays 
acted in the open air. Inside these towns and 
close round them everything was beautiful; but 
the Gauls who lived near learnt some Greek ways, 
and were getting tamed. They coined money, 
wrote in Greek letters, and bought and sold with 
the Greeks; but their wilder brethren beyond did 
not a]3prove of this, and whenever they could catch 
a Greek on his journey would kill him, rob him, 
or make him prisoner. Sometimes, indeed, they 
threatened to rob the cities, and the Greeks bes-fred 

' DO 

the Romans to protect them. So the Romans sent 
an officer and an army, who built two new towns, 
Aix and Narbonne, and made war on the Gauls, 
who tried to hinder him. Then a messenger was 
sent to the Roman camp. He was an immensely 
tall man, with a collar and bracelets of gold, and 
beside him came a bard singing the jDraises of his 
clan, the Arverni. There were many other attend- 
ants; but his chief guards were a pack of immense 







MOirNTKP <iAtTr,s. 



The Old Kelts. 21 

hounds, which came pacing after him in ranks like 
soldiers. He bade the Romans, in the name of his 
chief Bituitus, to leave tlie countr}- , and cease to 
harm the Gauls. The Roman General turned hio 
back and would not listen ; so the messenger went 
back in anger, and the Arverni prepared for battle. 
When Bituitus saw the Roman army lie tliought it 
so small that i e said, •• This handful of men will 
hardl}^ furnish food for my dogs." He was not 
beaten in the battle, but just after it he was made 
prisoner, and sent to Italy, where he was kept a 
captive all the rest of his life, ^\hile liis son was 
bronglit up in Roman learning and habits, and 
then sent home to rule his. clan, and teach them to 
be friends with Rome. This was about one liun- 
dred and fift}^ years before the coming of our 
Blessed Lord. 




CHAPTER If. 



THE ROMAN CONQUEST. 



B.C. 07 — A.D. TO. 

THE Romans called the country they had taken 
for themselves in Gaul the Province, and 
Provence has always continued to be its name. 
They filled it with colonies. A colony Avas a city 
built by Romans, generally old soldiers, who 
received a grant of land if they would defend it. 

22 



The Roman Conquest, 28 

The first thing they did was to set up an altar. 
Then they dug trenches the shape of their intended 
city, marked out streets, and made little flat bricks, 
everywhere after one pattern, with which the}- 
built a temple, houses (each standing round a 
paved court), a theatre, and public baths, with 
causeways as straight as an arrow joining the cities 
together. Each town had two magistrates elected 
every year, and a governor lived at the chief town 
with a legion of the army to keep the country 
round in order. 

When the .Romans once began in this way, they 
always ended by gaining the whole countrj^ in 
time. They took nearly a hundred years to gain 
Gaul. First there came a terrible inroad of some 
wilder Kymry, whom the Romans called Cimbri, 
from the west, with some Teutons, of that fiercer 
German race I told you of. Tliey broke into Gaul, 
and defeated a great Roman army ; and there was 
ten years' fighting with them before the stout old 
Roman, Caius Marius, beat them in a great battle 
near Aix. All the men were killed in battle, and 
the women killed their children and themselves 
rather than fall into Roman hands. That was 
B.C. 103; and Julius Csesar, the same who first 
came to Britain, was nephew to Marius, 



24 I'otuii/ Folks' llistorji of France. 

llo did m)( conquer Hritiiin, but he did really 
conquer (laiil. 1( \M)uld i^nly confuse ami puzzle 
you now to tell you how it was done ; but by this 
time nuvny of the (uiulish tribes liad eonu^ to be 
friendly with (he Komaus and ask tlu>ir hel}>. 
Sonu^ wanted hv^lp heeause they were quarrelling 
with o[\wv tribes, and cUhtM's because the Germans 
behind them had squeezed a great tribe v'( Kynuy 
out oi the Alps, and they \\anted to eome down 
and make a settlement in Chiul. rlulius (^lesiu* 
made short w ork o( beating these new-eomers, and 
he beat the Cierruans who were also trN'ino' to oret 
Into (^aul. Then he expected all the Gauls to 
submit to him — not oidy those \\ ho Tned round 
the Trovinee, and had always been friendly to 
Rome, l>nt all the free ones in the north. He was 
one of the most AviMuh^rfnl si>ldiers who e\er lived. 
He gained lirst, all the east siih>. He subdued 
the Belga\ who li\ed between the Al}>s and the 
sea, all the Armorieans along the north, and then 
the still wilder people on the coast towards the 
Atlantic ocean. 

But while he was away in the north, the Gaulish 
chiefs in the south agreed that they WiUild make 
one great attenq^t to set their eouutry free from 
the enemy. They resolved all io rise at once, and 



The Roman Conquest, 25 

put themselves under the command of the brave 
young mountain chief of the Arverni, from whom 
Auvergne was named. The Romans called his 
name Vercingetorix ; and as it really was even 
longer and harder to speak than tliis word, we wilJ 
all him so. He was not a wild shaggy savage like 
Bituitus, but a graceful, spirited chief, v/ho had 
been trained to Roman manners, and knew their 
ways of fighting. AH in one night the Gauls rose. 
Men stood on the hill-tops, and shouted from clan 
to clan to rise up in arms. It was the depth of 
winter, and Caesar was away resting in Italy; but 
back he came on the first tidings, and led his men 
over six feet of sn(nN', taking ever}- Gallic town by 
the way. 

Vercingetorix saw that the wisest thing for tlic 
Gauls to do would be to 1)urn and hiy waste tlic 
land themselves, so that the Romans might find 
nothing to eat. " It was sad," he said, " to see 
burning houses, ])ut worse to liave wife and chil- 
dren led into ca^jtivity." One city, that no\\ 
called B o urges, was left ; the inhabitants beseeched 
him on their knees to spare it ; and it seemed to 
be safe, for there was a river on one side and a bog 
oil all the rest, witli only one narrow road across. 
But in twenty-five days Caesar made his way in, 



26 Young Folks' History of France, 

and slew all he found there ; and then he folio wee' 
Vercingetorix to his own hills of Auvergne, and 
fought a battle, the only defeat the great Romar 
captain ever met with ; indeed, he was obliged tu 
retreat from the face of the brave Arverni. They 
followed him again, and fought anotiier battle, in 
which he was in great danger, and was forced even 
to leave his sword in the hands of the Gauls, who 
hung it up in a temple in thanksgiving to their 
gods. But the Gauls were not so steady as they 
were brave ; they fled, and all Vercingetorix could 
do was to lead them to a great camp under the hill 
of Alesia. He sent horsemen to rouse the rest of 
Gaul, and shut himself up in a great enclosure 
with his men. Csesar and the Romans came and 
made another enclosure outside, eleven miles round, 
so that no help, no food could come to them, and 
they had only provisions for thirty days. Their 
friends outside did try to break through to them, 
but in vain ; they were beaten off ; and then brave 
Vercingetorix offered to give himself up to the 
Romans, provided the lives of the rest of the Gauls 
were spared. Caesar gave his word that this should 
be done. Accordingly, at the appointed hour the 
gates of the Gallic camp opened. Out came Ver- 
cingetorix in his richest armor, mounted on his 



The Roman Conquest, 29 

finest steed. He galloped about, wheeled round 
once, then drawing up suddenly before Caesar's 
seat, sprang to the ground, and laid his sword at 
the victor's feet. Caesar was not touched. He 
kept a cold, stern face ; ordered the gallant chief 
into captivity, and kept hirn for six years, while 
finishing other conquests, and then took him to 
Rome, to walk in chains behind the car in which 
the victorious general entered in triumph, with all 
the standards taken from the Gauls displayed ; 
and then, with the other captives, this noble war- 
rior was put to death in the dark vaults under the 
hill of the Capitol. 

With Vercingetorix ended the freedom of Gaul. 
The Romans took possession of all the country, 
and made the cities like their own. The old clans 
were broken up. The fighting men were enlisted 
in the Roman army, and sent to fight as far away 
as possible from home, and the chiefs thought it an 
honor to be enrolled as Roman citizens ; they wore 
the Roman tunic and toga, spoke and wrote Latin, 
and, except among the Kymry of the far north- 
Avest, the old Gaulish tongue was forgotten. Very 
grand temples and amphitheatres still remain in 
the Province of Roman building, especially at 
Nismes, Aries, and Autun : and a huge acqueduct. 



30 Young Folks'* History of France, 

called the Pont du Gard, still stands across a 
valley near Nismes, with 600 feet of three tier of 
arcades, altogether 160 feet high. Roads made as 
only Romans made them crossed hither and thither 
throughout the country, and, except in the wilder 
and more distant parts, to live in Gaul was very 
like living in Rome. 

After Julius Csesar, the Romans had Emperors 
at the Iiead of their state, and some of these were 
very fond of Gaul. But when the first tweh^e 
who had some connection with Julius were all 
dead, a Gaul named Julius Sabinus rose up and 
called himself Emperor. The real Emperor, chosen 
at Rome, named Vespasian, soon came and over- 
threw his cause, and hunted him to his country 
house. Flames burst out of it, and it was declared 
that Sabinus had burnt himself there. But no ; 
he was safely hidden in a cave in the woods. No 
one knew of it but his wife Eponina and one trusty 
slave, and there they lived together for nine years, 
and had two little sons. Eponina twice left him to 
go to Rome to consult her friends whether the}' 
could obtain a pardon for her husband; but Ves- 
pasian was a stern man, and they saw no hope, so 
she went back disappointed ; and the second time 
she -was watched and followed, and Sabinus was 



The Roman Conquest, St 

found. He was taken and chained, and carried to 
Rome, and she and her two boys came with him. 
She knelt before the Emperor, and besought his 
pardon, saying that here were two more to plead 
for their father. Tears came into Vespasian's eyes, 
but he would not forgive, and the husband and 
wife were both sentenced to die. The last thing 
Eponina said before his judgment-seat was, that it 
was better to die together than to be alive as such 
an Emperor. Her two boys were taken care of, 
and one of them lived long after in Greece, as far 
away from his home as possible. 



CHAPTER HI. 

THE CONVERSION OF GAUL. . 
A.D. 100-400. 

GAUL could not be free in her own way, but 
the truth that maketh free was come to her. 
The Druids, though their worship was cruel, had 
better notions of the true God than the Romans 
with their multitude of idols, and when they heard 
more of the truth, many of them gladly embraced 

32 



Tlie Conversion of Giaul. 33 

it. The Province was so near Rome that very 
soon after the Apostles had reached the great city, 
they sent on to Gaul. The people in Provence 
believe tliat Lazarus and his two sisters came 
thither, but this is not likely. However, the first 
Bishop of Aries was Trophimus, and we may quite 
believe him to have been the Ephesian who was 
with St. Paul in his third journey, and was at 
Jerusalem with him when he was made prisoner. 
Trophimus brought a service-book with him very 
like the one that St. John the Evangelist had 
drawn up for the Churches of Asia. 

It was to Vienne, one of these Roman cities, 
that Pontius Pilate had been banished for his 
cruelty. In this town and in the larger one at 
Lyons there were manj^ Christians, and their bishop 
was Pothinus, who had been instructed by St. 
John. It was many years before the Gallic Chris- 
tians suffered any danger for their faith, not till 
the year 177, when Pothinus was full ninety years 
old. 

Then, under the Emperor Marcus Aurelius, a 
governor was sent to the Province who was resolved 
to put an end to Christianity. The difficulty was 
that there were no crimes of which to accuse the 
Christians. So he caused several slaves to be 



34 Young Folks' History of France. 

seized and put to torture, while they were asked 
questions. There were two young girls among 
them, Blandina and Biblis. Blandina was a weak, 
delicate maiden, but whatever pain they gave her, 
she still said, "I am a Christian, and no evil is 
done among us." Biblis, however, in her fright 
and agony, said " Yes " to all her tormentors asked, 
and accused the Christians of killing babies, eating 
human flesh, and all sorts of horrible things. 
Afterwards she was shocked at herself, declared 
there was not a word of truth in what she had 
said, and bore fresh and worse torture bravely. 
The Christians were seized. The old bishop was 
dragged through the streets, and so pelted and ill- 
treated that after a few days he died in prison. 
The others Avere for fifteen days brought out before 
all the people in the amphitheatre, while every 
torture that could be thought of was tried upon 
them. All were, brave, but Blandina was the 
bravest of all. She did not seem to feel when she 
was put to sit on a red hot iron chair, but encour- 
aged her young brother through all. At last she 
was put into a net and tossed by a bull, and then, 
being found to be still alive, her throat was pierced, 
everyone declaring that never had woman endured 
^o much. The persecution did not last much 



The Conversion of G-aul. 36 

longer after this, and the bones of the martyrs 
were collected and buried, and a church built over 
them, the same, though of course much altered, 
which is now the Cathedral of Lyons. 

Instead of the martyred Pothinus, the new bishop 
was Irenaeus, a holy man who left so many writings 
that he is counted as one of the Fathers of the 
Church. Almost all the townsmen of Lyons became 
Christians under his wise persuasion and good 
example, but the rough people in the country were 
much less easily reached. Indeed, the word pagan, 
which now means a heathen, was only the old 
Latin word for a peasant or villager. In the 3^ear 
202, the Emperor Severus, who had himself been 
born at Lyons, put out an edict against the Chris- 
tians. The fierce Gauls in the adjoining country 
hearing of it, broke furiously into the city, and 
slaughtered every Christian they laid hands upon, 
St. Irenaeus among them. There is an old mosaic 
pavement in a church at Lyons where the inscrip- 
tion declares that nineteen thousand died in this 
massacre, but it can hardly be believed that the 
numbers were so large. 

The northerly parts of Gaul were not yet con- 
verted, and a bishop named Dionysius was sent to 
teach a tribe called the Parisii, whose chief city 



36 Young Folks'^ History of France. 

was Lutetia, on the banks of the Seine. He was 
taken in the year 272, and was beheaded just out- 
side the walls on a hill which is still known as 
Mont Martie, the martyr's mount, and his name, 
cut short into St. Denys, became one of the most 
famous in all France. 

The three Keltic provinces, Gaul, Spain, and 
Britain, used to be put together under one governor, 
and the brave, kindly Constantius ruled over them, 
and hindered persecution as much as he could. 
His son Constantine was also much loved, and it 
was while marching to Italy with an army, in 
which were many Gauls, to obtain the empire, that 
Constantine saw the vision of a bright cross in the 
sky, surrounded by the words, "In this sign thou 
shalt conquer." He did conquer, and did confess 
himself a Christian two years later, and under him 
the Church of Gaul flourished. Gallic bishops 
were at the great council of Nicea, in Asia Minor, 
when the Nicene creed was drawn up, and many 
beautiful hymns for Christian worship were written 
in Gaul. 

After Constantine's death, his son Constantius 
fostered the false doctrine that the Nicene creed 
contradicted. He lived at Constantinople, and 
dressed and lived like an Eastern prince, and the 



The Conversion of G-aul. 37 

Gauls were growing discontented ; more especially 
as the Franks — a terrible tribe of their Teuton 
enemies to the east — were trying to break into 
theii' lands. A young cousin of Constantius, named 
Julian, was sent to fight with them. He fixed his 
chief abode in a little island in the middle of the 
River Seine, at Lutetia, among his dear Parisii, as 
he called the tribe around, and thence he came out 
to drive back the Franks whenever they tried to 
attack the Gauls. He was a very brave, able man, 
but he had seen so much selfishness among the 
Christians in Rome and Constantinople, that he 
fancied their faults arose from their faith; and 
tried to be an old heathen again as soon as Con- 
stantius was dead, and he became emperor. He 
only reigned three years, and then, in the year 
863, was killed in a war with the Persians. Very 
sad times followed his death. He was the last of 
his family, and several emperors rose and fell at 
Rome. The governor of Gaul, Maximus, called 
himself emperor, and, raising an arm}- in Britain, 
defeated the young man who had reigned at Rome 
in the year 881, and ruled the Keltic provinces for 
seven years. He was a brave soldier, and not 
wholly a bad man, for he much loved and valued 
the great Bishop Martin, of Tours. Martin had 



38 Young Folks History of France, 

been brought up as a soldier, but he was so kind 
that once when he saw a shivering beggar he cut 
his cloak into two with his sword, and gave the 
poor man half. He was then not baptized, but at 
eighteen he became altogether a Christian, and 
was the pupil of the great Bishop Hilary of Poitiers. 
It was in these days that men were first beginniug 
to band together to live in toil, poverty, and devo- 
tion in monasteries or abbeys, and Martin was the 
first person in Gaul to form one, near Poitiers; 
but he was called from it to be Bishop of Tours, 
and near that city he began another abbey, which 
still bears his name, Marmoutiers, or Martin's 
Monastery. He and the monks used to go out 
from thence to teach the Pagans, who still remained 
in the far west, and whom Roman punishment had 
never cured of the old Druid ways. These people 
could not learn the Latin that all the rest of the 
country spoke, but lived on their granite moors as 
their forefathers had lived four hundred years 
before. However, Martin did what no one else 
had ever done ; he taught them to become staunch 
Christians, though they still remained a people 
apart, speaking their own tongue and following 
their own customs. 

This was the good St. Martin's work while his 




PRUIP SACJitFJ* *-• 



The Co7iver8ion of Craul. 41 

friend, the false Emperor Maximus, was being 
overtlirown by the true Emperor Theodosius ; and 
much more struggling and fighting was going on 
among the Romans and Gauls, while in the mean- 
time the dreadful Franks were every now and 
then bursting into the country from across the 
Rhine to plunder and burn and kill and make 
slaves. 

St. Martin had finished the conversion of Gaul, 
just before he died in his monastery at Marmou- 
tiers, in the year 400. He died in time to escape 
the terrible times that were coming upon all the 
Gauls, or rather Romans. Fur all the southern 
and eastern Gauls called themselves Romans, spoke 
nothing but Latin, and had entirely forgotten all 
thoughts, waj's, and manners but those they had 
learnt from the Greeks and Romans. 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE FRANK KINGDOM, 
A.D. 450-533. 

THAT race of people which had been driving 
the Kelts westward for six or seven hundred 
years was making a way into Gaul at last ; indeed, 
they had been only held back by Roman skill. 
These were the race which, as a general name, is 
called Teutonic, but which divided into man}^ 
different nations. All were large-limbed, blue- 
eyed, and light-haired. They all spoke a language 
like rough German, and all had the same religion, 
believing in the great warlike gods, Odin, Thor, 
and Frey ; worshipping tliem at stone altars, and 
expecting to live with them in the hall of heroes 
after death. That is, all so called who were brave 
and who were chosen by the valkyr, or slaughter- 
choosing goddesses, to die nobly in battle. Cow- 
ards were sent to dwell with Hela, the pale, gloomy 
goddess of death. 
42 



The Frank Kingdom. 43 

Of course the different tribes were not exacth' 
alike, but tliey all had these features in common. 
Thev had Mved for at least five hundred years in 
the centre of Europe, now and then attacking their 
neighbors, when, being harassed by another fierce race 
who came behind them, they made more great efforts. 
The chief tribes whose names must be remembered 
were the Goths, who conquered Rome and settled 
in Spain ; the Longbeards, or Lombards, who spread 
over the north of Italy ; the Burgundians (burg 
or town livers), who held all the country round 
the Alps ; the Swabians and Germans, who stayed 
in the middle of Europe ; the Saxons, who dwelt 
about the south of the Baltic, and finally conquered 
South Britain ; the Northmen, who found a home 
in Scandinavia ; and the Franks, who had been 
long settled on the rivers Sale, Meuse, and Rhine. 
Their name meant Freemen, and they were noted 
for using an axe called after them. There were 
two tribes — the Salian, from the River Sale, and 
the Ripuarian. They were great horsemen, and 
dreadful pillagers, and the Salians had a family of 
kings, which, like the kings of all the other tribco, 
was supposed to descend from Odin. The king 
was always of this family, called Meerwings, after 



44 Young Folks'' History of France. 

Meerwig, the son of Wehrmund, one of the first 
chiefs. 

After the death of the great Theodosius, who 
had conquered the false Emperor Maximus, there 
was no power to keep these Franks back, and they 
were contmually dashing into Ganl, and carrying 
off slaves and plunder. Even worse was the great 
rush that, in the year 450, was made all across 
Europe by the Hnns, a terrible nation of another 
race, whose chief was called Etzel, or Attila, and 
who named himself the Scourge of God. In 451, 
he invaded Gaul with his army, horrible looking 
men, whose faces had been gashed by their savage 
parents in their infancy, that they might look more 
dreadful. It was worse to fall into their hands 
than into those of the Franks, and everywhere 
there was terror. At Lutetia there was a great 
desire to flee away, but they. were persuaded to 
remain by the holy woman, Genoveva. She was a 
young shepherdess of Nanterre, near Paris, who 
had devoted herself to the service of God, and 
whose holy life made the people listen to her as a 
kind of prophet. And she was right. The Huns 
did not come further that Orleans, where the good 
Bishop Lupus made the people shu^ their gates, 
and defend their town, until an army, composed of 




HrXS AT CHALOXS, 



as- 



The Frank Kingdom. 47 

Franks, Goths, Burgunclians, Gauls, all under the 
Roman General Aetius, attacked the Huns at 
Chalons-sur-Marne, beat them, and drove them 
buck in 451. Chalons was the last victory won 
under the old Roman eagles. There was too much 
trouble in Italy for Rome to help any one. In 
came the Franks whenever they pleased, and Hil- 
perik, the . son of Meerwig, came to Lutetia, or 
Paris, as it was now called from the tribe round it, 
and there he rioted in Julian's old palace. He had 
a great respect for Genoveva, heathen though he 
was ; and when he came home from plundering, 
with crowds of prisoners driven before him, Geno- 
veva would go and stand before him, and entreat 
for their pardon, and he never could withstand 
her, but set them all free. She died at eighty-nine 
years old, and St. Genevieve, as she was afterwards 
called, was honored at Paris as much as St. Den3's. 
Hilperik's son was named Hlodwig, which means 
loud or renowned w ar, but as the name is harsii, 
histories generally name him Clovis. He wanted 
to marry a Burgundian maiden named Clothilda 
and as she was a Christian, he promised that she 
should be allowed to pray to her God in the 
churches which still stood throughout Gaul. When 
her first child was born, she persuaded Clovis to 



48 Young Folks* History of France, 

let her have it baptized. It died very soon, and 
Clovis fancied it was because her God could not 
save it. However, she caused the next child to be 
baptized, and when it fell sick she prayed for it, 
and it recovered. He began to listen more to 
what she said of her God, and when, soon after, 
the Germans came wifh a great army across the 
Rhine, and he drew out his Franks to fight with 
them at Tolbiac, near Cologne, he was in great 
danger in the battle, and he cried aloud, " Christ, 
whom Clothilda calls the true God, I have called 
on my own gods, and they help me not ! Send 
help, and I will own Thy name." The Germans 
fled, and Clovis had the victory. 

He kept his word, and was baptized at Rheims by 
St. Remigius, with his two sisters, three thousand 
men, and many women and children ; and as he was 
the first great Teutonic prince who was a Catholic 
Christian, the King of France, ever since his time, 
has been called the Most Christian King and eldest 
son of the Church. Clovis was the first Frank 
chief who really made a home of Gaul, or who 
wore a purple robe and a crown like a Roman 
emperor. He made his chief home at Paris, where 
he built a church in the little island on the Seine, 
in honor of the Blessed Virgin, measuring the 



The Frank Kingdom, 49 

length by how far he could throw an axe ; but, 
though he honored the Gaulish clergy, he was still 
a fierce and violent savage, who did many cruel 
things. He generally repented of them afterwards, 
and gave gifts to churches to show his sorrow, and 
holy men were about him when, in 511, he died at 
Paris. 

His sons had all been baptized, but tliey were 
worse men than he had been. The Frank kingdom 
was only the north part of the country above the 
Loire. In the south, where the Romans had had 
possession so much longer, and built so many more 
walled towns, the Franks never really lived. They 
used to rush down and plunder the country round 
about ; but then the townsmen shut themselves in^ 
closed their gates, and strengthened their walls, 
and the Franks had no machines to batter the 
walls, no patience for a blockade, and went home 
again with only the spoil of the country round ; 
while in the Province people called themselves 
Roman citizens still, and each place governed itself 
by the old Roman law. 

Plenty of Gauls were in the northern part too, 
speaking Latin still. They had to bear much 
rough treatment from the Franks, but all tlie time 
their knowledge and skill made them respected. 



50 Young Folks'' History of France. 

The clergy, too, were almost all Gauls ; and now 
that the Franks were Christians, in name at least, 
they were afraid of them, and seldom damaged a 
church or broke into a monaster3^ Indeed, if 
there was any good in a Frank, he was apt to go 
into a monastery out of the horrid barbarous ways 
of his comrades, and perhaps this left those outside 
to be still worse, as they had hardly any better 
men among them. The four sons of Clovis divided 
the kingdom. That is, they were all kings, and 
each had towns of his own, but all a good deal 
mixed up together; and in the four chief towns — 
Paris, Orleans, Soissons, and Metz — they all had 
equal shares. Not that they really governed, only 
each had a strong box filled with gold and jewels, 
and they always were leaders when the Franks 
went out to plunder in the southern lands of Pro- 
vincia and Aquitaine. There was another part the 
Franks .never conquered, namely, that far north- 
western corner called Armorica. which Julius Csesar 
had conquered, and St. Martin had converted last 
of all. The granite moors did not tempt the Franks, 
and the Kjmri there were bold and free. More- 
over, so many of their kindred Kymri from Britain 
came over thither for fear of the Saxons, that the 
country came to be called from them Bretagne, or 




DEATH OF HLODIMIR'S CHILDi;ii>'. 



The Frank Kingdom, 53 

Brittan}^ and the Kymric tongue is spoken there 
to this day. 

When Hlodmir, one of the sons of Clovis, died, 
his three little sons were sent to Paris to bo under 
the care of their grandmother, Clothilda. She was 
so fond of them that their uncles, Hloter and 
Hildebert, were afraid she would require that their 
father's inheritance should be given to them. So 
they asked her to send the boys to them on a visit, 
and as soon as they arrived, a messenger was sent 
to the Queen with a sword and a pair of scissors, 
desiring her to choose. This meant that she would 
choose whether the poor boys should be killed, or 
have their heads shaven and become monks. Clo- 
thilda answered that she had rather see them dead 
than monks. So Hloter killed the eldest, who was 
only ten, with his sword ; the second clung to 
Hildebert, and begged hard for life, but Hloter 
forced his brother to give him up, and killed him 
too ; the third, whose name was Hlodoald, was 
helped by some of the bystanders to hide himself, 
and when he grew older, he cut oif his long hair, 
went into a monastery, and was so good a man 
that he is now called St. Cloud. This horrible 
murder happened about the year 533, 







CHAPTER y. 



THE LONG-HAIRED KINGS. 



A.D. 533-681. 



THE Meer wings, or long-haired kings, were 
altogether the most wicked dynasty (or race 
of kings) who ever called themselves Christian. 
They do not seem to have put off any of their 
heathen customs, except the actual worship of 
Frey and Odin. They murdered, plundered, and 
54 



The Long-Haired Kings, 5o 

married numerous wives, just as if they had been 
heathens stilL Most likely the}' thouglit that as 
Christ was the God of Gaul, he must be honored 
there ; but they had no notion of obeying Him, 
and if a Gallic bishop rebuked them, they only 
plundered his church. By the Frank law, a mur- 
der might be redeemed by a payment, and it was 
full twice as costly to kill a Frank as to kill a 
Roman, that is to say, a Gaul ; for, except in the 
cities in the Province and Aquitaine, this term of 
Roman, once so proud, was only a little better 
than that of slave. 

Out of all the Meerwing names, one or two have 
to be remembered above the rest for their crimes. 
Hlother, the murderous son of Clovis, left four 
sons, among whom the kingdom was, as usual, 
divided. Two of these sons, Hilperik and 8ieg- 
bert, wished for queenly wives, though Hilperik, 
at least, had a houseful of wives before, and among 
them a slave gir] named Fredegond. The two 
brothers married the two daughters of the King of 
the Goths in Spain, Galswinth and Brj^nhild. 
Siegbert seems to have really loved Brynhild, but 
Hilperik cared for the beautiful and clever Frede- 
gond more than anyone else, and very soon poor 
Galswinth was found in her bed strangled. Frede- 



56 Young Folks' History of France. 

gond reigned as queen, and Brynhild hated lier 
bitterly, and constantly stirred up lier husband to 
avenge her sister's death. Siegbert raised an army 
and defeated Hilperik, but Fredegond contrived to 
have him stabbed. She also contrived to have all 
her husband's other children- killed by different 
means, and at last, fearing he would find out crimes 
greater than even he could bear with, she contrived 
that he too should bo stabbed when returning from 
hunting, in the year 584. She had lost several 
infants, and now had only one child left, Illoter II., 
a few months old, but in his name she ruled what 
the Franks called the Ne-oster-ik, the not eastern, 
or western kingdom, namely, France, from the 
Saone westward ; while Bry:ixhild and her son Hil- 
debert ruled in the Austerik, or eastern kingdom, 
from the Saone to the Sale p^ d Rhine. There was 
a most bitter hatred between the two sisters-in-law. 
It seems as if Fredegond was of a wicked nature, 
and would have been a bad woman anywhere. 
One's mind shrinks frr le horrible stories of 
murder, treachery, and e\ y sort of vice that are 
told of her; but no oi. ,/ard punishment came 
upon her in this world, iiiid she died in 597 at 
Paris, leaving her son, Hh her II., on the throne. 
Brynhild often did ba things, but she erred 



The Long'Haired Kings. 51 

more from the bad times in which she lived than from 
her own disposition. She tried, so far as she knew 
how, to do good; she made friends with the clergy, 
she helped the few learned men, she tried to stop 
cruelty, she tried to repair the old Roman roads and 
bridges, and many places are called after her — Queen 
Brynhild's tower, or stone, or the like — and she was 
very kind to the poor, and gave them large alms. 
But she grew worse as she grew older; she had 
furious quarrels wicL the Frank chiefs, and when 
the Bishops found fault with her she attacked them> 
and even caused the saintly Bishop of Yienne to 
be assassinated. In her time there came from Ire- 
land a number of very holy men, Keltic Christians, 
who had set forth fi\>m the monasteries to convert 
such Gauls and Franks as remained heathen, and 
to try to bring the rj-st to a better sense of what a 
Christian life was. St. ^'Columbanus came into the 
Austerick when Brynhild's two grandsons, Theude- 
bert and Theuderick, were reigning there. Theu- 
derick listened willi^' u'to the holy man, and was 
proceeding to put a^v" /his many wives and mend 
his ways; but the old uieen's pride was offended, 
and she could not forg ve him for not allowing her 
to come into his mona ery, because no woman was 
permitted there. Sh < stirred up Theuderick to 



58 Young Folks' History of France. 

drive him awaj, whereupon he went to the Alps 
and converted the people there, who were still 
worshippers of Odin. Soon after there Avas a iierce 
quarrel between her two grandsons. Theuderick 
was taken prisoner by his brother, and forced to 
cut his hair and become a monk, but this did not 
save his life. He was put to death shortly after, 
and his brother soon after died ; so that Brynhild, 
after having ruled in the name of her son and 
grandsons, now governed for her great-grandson, 
Siegbert, thirty-nine years after her husband's 
death. But she was old and weak, and her foe, 
Fredegond's son, Hlother, attacked her, defeated 
her forces, and made her and her great-grandchil- 
dren prisoners. The boys were slain, and the poor 
old Gothic Queen, after being placed on a camel 
and led through the camp to be mocked by all the 
savage Franks, was tied to the tail of a wild horse, 
to be dragged to death by it ! This was in 614. 

Hlother thus became King of 'all the Franks, 
and so was his son Dagobert I., who was not much 
better as a man, but was not such a savage, and 
took interest in the beautifid goldsmith's work 
done by the good Bishop Eligius ; and, somehow, 
his name has been more remembered at Paris than 
he seems properly to deserve. In fact, the FranksS 



The Long-Haired Kings. 59 

were getting gradually civilized by the Romanized 
Gauls — the conquerors by the conquered; and 
the daughters, when taken from their homes, some- 
times showed themselves excellent women. It was 
Bertha, the daughter of King Haribert, the mur- 
derer of his nephews, who persuaded her husband, 
Ethelbert of Kent, to receive St. Augustine ; and 
Ingund, the daughter of Br3aihild and Siegbert, 
was married to a Gothic Prince in Spain, whom 
she brought to die a martyr for the true faith. 

Twelve more Meerwings reigned after Dagobert. 
If they had become less savage they were less 
spirited, and they hardly attended at all to the 
affairs of their kingdoms, but only amused them- 
selves in their i-ude palaces at Soissons or Paris, 
thus obtaining the name of Rois Fai7ieants^ or 
sluggard kings. 

The affairs of the kingdom fell into the hands of 
the Major Domi, as he was called, or Mag or of the 
Palace. The Franks, as they tried to have courts 
and keep up state, followed Roman patterns so far 
as they knew them, and gave Roman names from 
the Emperor's Court to the men in attendance on 
them. So the steward, or Major JDomi, master of 
the household, rose to be the chief person in the 
kingdom next to the king himself. The next great- 



60 Youny Folks' History of France. 

est people were called Comites, companions of the 
King, Counts; and the chief of these was the 
Master of the Horse, Gomes Stahuli, the Count of 
the Stable, or, as he came to be called in the end, 
the Constable. The leader of the army was called 
Dux, a Latin word meaning to lead ; and this word 
is our word Duke. But the Mayor of the Palace 
under these foolish do-nothing Meerwings soon 
came to be a much greater man than the King 
himself, and the Mayor of the Palace of the Oster- 
rik or Austrasia fought with the Palace Mayor of 
the Ne-oster-rik or Neustria, as if they \^~cr2 t"^^ 
sovereigns. The Austrian Franks sLx3tehed far 
away eastward, and were much more bold anCi 
spirited than the Neustrians, who had mixed a 
great deal with the Gauls. And, finally, Ebroin, 
the last Neustrian Mayor, was murdered in 681, 
the Neustrian army was defeated, and the Austra- 
sians became the most powerful. Their mayors 
were all one family, the first of whom was named 
Pepin of Landen. He was one of Queen Bryn- 
hild's great enemies, but he was a friend of Dago- 
bert I., and he and his family were brave defenders 
of the Franks from the other German nations, who, 
like them, loved war better than anything else. 



CPIAPTER VL 

CAEL OF THE HAMMER. 
A.D. 681. 

THE grandson of Pepin of Landen is commonly 
called Pepin L'Heristal. He was Mayor of 
the Palace through the reigns of four do-nothing 
Meerwings, and was a brave leader of the Franks^ 
fighting hard with their heathen neighbors on the 
other side of the Khine, the Saxons and Thurin- 
gians, along the banks of the Meuse and Elbe ; 
and not only fighting m ith them, but helj^ing the 
missionaries who came from England and from 
Ireland to endeavor to convert them. 

He died in 714, and after him came his brave 
son Car] of the Hammer, after whom all the family 
are known in history as Carlings. He was Duke 
of Austrasia and Mayor of the Palace, over (one 
cannot say under^ Hlother IV. and Theuderick 
IV., and fought the battles of the Franks against 

61 



62 Young FolW History of France. 

the Saxons and Frisians, besides making himself 
known and respected in the Province and Aqui- 
taine, where the soft Roman speech softeaed his 
name into Carolus and translated his nickname into 
Martellus, so that he has come down to our day as 
Charles Martel. 

Whether it was meant that he was a hammer 
himself, or that he carried a hammer, is not clear, 
but it is quite certain that he was the greatest 
man in Europe at that time, and he who did her 
the greatest benefit. 

It was a hundred }' ears since Mahommed had 
risen up in Arabia, teaching the wild Arabs a strict 
law, and declaring that God is but one, and that 
he was His prophet, by which he meant that he 
was a greater and a truer prophet than the Lord 
Jesus Christ. He had carried away many of the 
Eastern nations after him and had conquered 
others. He taught that it was right to fight for 
the spread of the religion he taught, and his Arabs 
did fight so mightily that they overcame the Holy 
Land and held the city of Jerusalem. Besides 
this, they had conquered Egj-pt and spread all 
along the north of Africa, on the coast of the 
Mediterranean Sea ; and thence they had crossed 
over into Spain, and subdued the Christian Goths, 



Carl of the Hammer, 63 

all but the few who had got together in the Pyre- 
nean mountains and their continuation in the 
Asturias, along the coast of the Bay of Biscay. 

And now these Arabs — also called Saracens 
and Moors — were trying to pass the Pyrenees and 
make attacks upon Gaul, and it seemed as if all 
Europe was going to be given up to them and to 
become Mahommedan. Abdul Rhaman, the great 
Arab Governor of Spain, crossed the Pyrennees at 
the pass of Roncevalles, burst into Aquitaine, 
gained a great battle near Bordeaux, and pillaged 
the city, which was so rich a place that every 
soldier was loaded with topazes and emeralds, and 
gold was quite common ! 

Then they marched on towards Tours, where 
the Abbey of Marmoutiers was said to be the 
richest in all Gaul. But by this time Carl of the 
Hammer had got together his army ; not only 
Franks, but Burgundians, Gauls of the Province, 
Germans from bej'ond the Rhine — all who will- 
ingly owned the sovereignty of Austrasia, provided 
they could be saved from the Arabs. 

The battle of Tours, between Charles Martel 
and Abdul Rhaman, was fought in the autumn oi 
732, and was one of the great battles that decide 
the fate of the world. For it was this which fixed 



64 Young Folks^ History of France. 

whether Europe should be Christian or Mahomme- 
daii. It was a hotly-fought combat, but the tall 
powerful Franks and Germans stood like rocks 
against every charge of the Arab horsemen, till 
darkness came on. The Franks slept where they 
stood, and drew up the next morning to begin the 
battle again, but no enemy appeared. Some Franks 
were sent to reconnoitre, entered the enemy's camp, 
and penetrated into their tents. But no living man 
was to be found. The Arabs had decamped silently 
in the night, and had left nearly all their booty 
behind them, and the battle of Tours had saved 
Europe. However, the Hammer had still to strike 
many blows before they were driven back into 
Spain, and this tended to bring the south of Gaul 
much more under his power. Carl was looked 
upon as the great defender of Christendom, and, as 
at this time the king of the Lombards in Northern 
Italy seemed disposed to make himself master of 
Rome, the Pope sent two nuncios, as Pope's mes- 
sengers are called, to carry him presents, among 
them the keys of the tomb of St. Peter, and to beg 
for his protection. Still, great as he was in reality, 
he never called himself mor6 than Mayor of the 
Palace and Duke of Austrasia, and when he died 
in 741, his sons, Pepin and Carloman, divided the 




A1^VB> 1IA1> PH A^li'KP, 



Carl of the Hammer, 67 

government, still as ^Mayors, for the Meerwing 
Hilderick III. In 746, however, Carloman, weary 
of the world, caused his head to be shaven hj 
Pope Zacharias, and retired into the great monas- 
tery of Monte Cassino, where, about a hundred 
years before, St. Benedict had begun a rule that 
became the pattern of most of the convents of the 
west. Pepin, commonly called le href or the Short, 
ruled alone, and in 751 he sent to ask Pope Zacha- 
rias whether it would not be wiser that tlie family 
who had all the power should bear the name of 
kings. The Pope replied that so it should be. 
Hilderick was put into a convent, and the great 
English Missionary-bishop, St. Boniface, whom 
Pepin and his father had aided in his work among 
the Germans, anointed Pepin as King of the Franks 
at Soissons, and two years later, the next Pope, 
Stephen II., came into Gaul again to ask aid 
against the Lombards, and at the Abbey of St. 
Deny's anointed Pepin again, together with his 
two young sons, Carl and Carloman. And so the 
Meerwings passed awa}^, and the Carlings began. 

Pepin was a great friend and supporter of St. 
Boniface, who -had been made Archbishop of May- 
intz. He did much b\' his advice to bring the 
Church of Gaul into good order, and he was much 



68 Young Folks' History of France, 

grieved when the holy man was martyred whil^ 
preaching to the savage men of Friesland. Pepin 
was constantly fighting with the heathen Saxons 
and Germans to the east of him, and he so far 
subdued them that they promised to send three 
hundred horses as a present to the General Assem- 
bly of Franks. To the north he had the old Gauls 
in Brittany, who had to be well watched lest they 
should plunder their neighbors ; and to the south 
were the Arabs, continually trying to maraud in 
the Province and Aquitaine ; Avhile the Dukes of 
Aquitaine, though they were quite unable to keep 
back the Moors without the help of the Franks, 
could not endure their allies, and hated to acknowl- 
edge the upstart Pepin as their master. These 
Dukes, though Teuton themselves, had lived so 
long in the Roman civilization of the southern 
cities, that they despised the Franks as rude barba- 
rians ; and the Franks, on their side, thought them 
ver}^ slippery, untrustworthj^ people. 

Pepin was a great improvement in good sense, 
understanding, and civilization on the do-nothing 
Meerwings, but even he looked on writing as only 
the accomplishment of clerg}^, and did not cause 
his sons to learn to write. Yet Pope Stephen was 
for a whole winter his guest, and when the Franks 



Carl of the Rammer, 69 

entered Italy and defeated Astolfo, King of the 
Lombards, Pepin was rewarded by being made 
"Senator of Rome.'' Afterwards the Lombards 
attacked the Pope again. Pepin again came to liis 
help, and after gaining several victories, forced 
King Astolfo to give up part of his lands near 
Rome. Of these Pepin made a gift to the Pope, 
and this was the beginning of the Pope's becoming 
a temporal sovereign, tliat is, holding lands like a 
king or prince, instead of only holding a spiritual 
power over men's consciences as chief Bishop of 
the Western Church. 

Pepin died at the Abbey of St. Denys in the 
year T68. Do not call him King of France, but 
King of the Franks, which does not mean the same 
thing. 




CHAPTER VII. 



CAUL THE GREAT. 



768. 



CARL and Carloman, the two sons of Pepin, at 
first divided the Frank domains ; but Carlo- 
man soon died, and Carl reigned alone. He is one 
of the mightiest of the princes who ever bore the 
name of Great. Carl der Grosse, the Franks called 
him ; Carolos Magnus in Latin, and this has become 
70 





*w$ 




5^|?#- 



<s|"1.M-^ 



BAPTISM OF SAXONS BY CHARLEMAGNE. 



f .;>■ ^./^ 



■^Tm. 



Oarl the Great, 73 

in Frencli, Charlemagne ; and as this is the name 
by which everj^body knows him, it will be the 
most convenient way to call him so here, though 
no one ever knew him thus in his own time. 

He was a most warlike king. When the Saxons 
tailed to send Mm three hundred horses, he entered 
their country, ravaged it, and overthrew an image 
or pillar near the source of tlie Lippe, which they 
used as an idol, and called Irminsul. Thereupon 
the Saxons burnt the church at Fritzlar, which St. 
Boniface had built, and the war went on for years. 
Charlemagne was resolved to force the Saxons to 
be Christians, and Witikind, the great Saxon leader, 
was fiercely resolved against yielding, viewing the 
honor of Odin as the honor of his country. Thej^ 
fought on and on, till, in 785, Charlemagne win- 
tered in Saxony, and at last persuaded Witikind to 
come and meet him at Attigny. There the Saxon 
chief owned that Christ had conquered, and con- 
sented to be baptized. Charlemagne made him 
Duke of Saxony, and he lived in good faith to the 
new vows he had taken. The Frisians and Bavari- 
ans, and all who lived in Germany, were forced to 
submit to the great King of the Franks. 

There was a new king of the Lombards, Deside- 
rio, and a'new Pope, Adrian I. ; and, as usual, they 



f4 Young Folks' History of France, 

were at war, and Adrian entreated for the aid of 
Charlemagne. He came with a great army, drove 
Desiderio into Pavia, and besieged him tlicre. It 
was a long siege, and Charlemagne had a chapel 
set up in his camp to keep Christmas in ; but for 
Easter he went to Rome, and was met a mile of( 
by all the chief citizens and scholars carrying palm 
branches in their hands, and as he mounted the 
steps to St. Peter's Church, the Pope met him, 
saying, " Blessed is he that cometh in the name of 
the Lord." He prayed at all the chief churches in 
Rome, and then returned to Pavia, which wai= 
taken soon after. He carried off Desiderio as a 
prisoner, and took the title of King of the Franks 
and the Lombards. This was in 775, while the 
Saxon war was still going on. 

He had likewise a war with the Arabs in Spain, 
and in 778 he crossed the Pyrenees, and overran 
the country as far as the Ebro, where the Arabs 
offered him large gifts of gold and jewels if he 
would return without touching their splendid cities 
in the South. He consented, but as he was return- 
ing, the w^ild Basque people — a strange people 
who lived unconquered in the mountains — fell 
upon the rear guard of his army in the Pass of 
Roncevalles, and plundered the baggage, slaying 









I>EATH OF KOLANO- 



Carl the Great. 77 

some of the bravest leaders, among them one 
Roland, Warden of the Marches of Brittany. 
Round this Roland wonderful stories have hung. 
It is said, and it may be true, that he blew a blast 
on his bugle-horn with his last strength, which 
first told Charlemagne, on far before, of this direful 
mischance : and further legends have made him 
the foremost and most perfect knight in the army, 
nay, raised him to gigantic strength, for there is a 
great cleft in the Pyrenean Hills called La Br^che 
de Roland, and said to have been made with one 
stroke of his sword. Pfalgraf, or Count of the 
Palace, was the title of some of the great Frank 
lords, and thus in these romances Roland and his 
friends- are called the Paladins. 

But to return to Charlemagne. He had threfi 
sons — Carl, Pepin, and Lodwig. When the two 
younger were four and three years old, he took 
them both with him to Rome, and there Pope 
Adrian anointed the elder to be King of Lom- 
bardy ; the younger. King of Aquitania. As soon 
as they had returned, Charlemagne had the little 
Lodwig taken to his kingdom. As far as the Loire 
he was carried in his cradle, but when he entered 
Aquitania he was dressed in a little suit of armor 
and placed on horseback, that he might be shown 



78 Young Folks History of France. 

to his subjects in maiih^ fashion. Wise, strong men 
formed his council, whose whole work was keeping 
the Arabs back beyond the Ebro ; but he was 
taken back after a time to be educated in his 
father's palace at Aachen. Charlemagne had gath- 
ered there the most learned men he could find — 
Alcuin, an Englishman, being one — and had a 
kind of academy, called the School of the Palace, 
where his 3"oung nobles and clergy might acquire 
the learning of the old Roman times. Discussions 
on philosophy were held, everyone taking some old 
name, Charlemagne himself being called David. 
He strove hard to remedy the want of a good 
education ; and such was his ability, that he could 
calculate the courses of the planets in his head, 
though he never wrote easily, in spite of carrying 
about tablets in his bosom, and practising at odd 
times. Latin was, of course, familiar to him ; St. 
Augustine's " City of God" was his favorite book; 
and he composed several hymns, among them the 
Vcni Creator Spiritus — that invocation of the 
Holy Spirit which is sung at Ordinations. He 
^Iso knew Greek, and he had begun to arrange a 
Frankish Grammar, and collect the old song's of 
his people. 

No one was so much honored and respected in 




SCHOOL OF THE PA LACK. 



Oarl The Great, 81 

Europe, and after two more journeys to Rome on 
behalf of the Pope, Leo III., the greatest honor 
possible was conferred upon him. In the old Ro- 
man times, the Roman people had always been 
supposed to elect their Emperor. They uow elected 
him. On the Christmas Day of the year 800, as 
Carl the Frank knelt before the altar of St, Peter's, 
the Pope placed a crown on his head, and the 
Roman people cried aloud, " To Carolus Augustus, 
crowned by God, the great and j)eaceful Emperor 
of the Romans, life and victory ! " 

So the Empire of the West, which had died 
away for a time, or been merited in the Empire of 
the East at Constantinople, was brought to life 
again in the person .of Carl the Great ; ^^•hile his 
two sons were rulers of kingdoms, and all around 
him were numerous dukes and counts of different 
subject nations, all owning his empire. The old 
cities, likewise, in Provence — Aquitania, Lom- 
bardy, and Gaul — though they had councils that 
governed themselves, owned him as their Emperor. 
Moreover, he made the new territories which he 
had conquered along the German rivers great 
bishoprics, especially at Triers, Mentz, and Koln, 
thinking that bishops would more safely and loy- 
ally guard the frontier, and tame the heathen 



82 Young Folks' History of France, 

borderers, than fierce warrior counts and dukes. 

Aachen was the capital of this Empire. There 
Carl had built a noble cathedral, and a palace for 
himself; and he collected from Italy the most 
learned clerks and the best singers of church 
music. His chosen name of David did not ill befit 
him, for he was a great founder and benefactor of 
the church, and gathered together synods of his 
bishops several times during his reign to consult 
for her good and defence. Indeed, his benefits to 
her, and his loyal service, were such that he has 
been placed in the calendar as a saint ; although 
he had several serious faults, the worst of which 
was that he did not rightly esteem the holiness and 
closeness of the tie of wedlock, and married and 
put away wives in a lax way that makes a great 
blot in his character. 

He was of a tall figure, with a long neck, and 
exceedmgiy active and dextrous in all exercises — : 
a powerful warrior, and very fond of hunting, but 
preferring swimming to anything else. Nobody 
could swim or dive like him ; and he used to take 
large parties to bathe with him, ^ that a hundred 
men were sometimes in the river at once. His 
dress was stately on occasion, but he did not ap- 
prove of mere finery ; and when he saw some 



Carl The G-reat, 83 

young noble over-dressed, would rather enjoy tak- 
ing liim on a long muddy ride in the rain. 

He had intended his eldest son Carl to be 
Emperor, and Pepin and Lodwig to rule Lom- 
bardy and Aquitaine under him as kings ; but 
Pepin died in 810, and Carl in 811, and only Lod- 
wig was left. This last son he caused to be ac- 
cepted as Emperor by all his chief nobles in the 
church at Aachen, and then made him a discourse 
on the duties of a sovereign to his people ; after 
which he bade the young man take a crown that 
lay on the altar and put it on his own head. 
'^ Blessed be the Lord, who hath granted me to see 
my son sitting on my throne," he said. 

Charlemagne died the next year, in 814, in his 
seventy-first year, and was buried at Aachen, sit- 
ting upright, robed and crowned, in his chaii. U'ith 
his sword by his side. 




CHAPTER VIIL 



THE CAKLINGS, 



814—887. 



THE Carlings after Charlemagne are nearly as 
difficult to understand or care about as the 
* 

Meerwings. The best way to understand the 
state of things is to remember that the Empire — 
the Holy Roman Empire of the West — consisted 
of a whole collection of separate states — German, 



The Carlings, 85 

Frank, Lombard, B urgundian, Gallic, Latin, and 
that a Carling was always king in one or more of 
these, and the chief of the family Emperor ; but 
they were constantly quarrelling, and whenever 
any of them died, it was as if the whole were 
shaken up together and the parts picked out 
afresh. They were far from being as wicked or as 
ignorant as the Faindants; but it really was 
almost impossible for their utmost efforts to have 
succeeded in keeping the peace, even if they had 
been such giants in mind as Charlemagne had 
been. 

His only son, Lodwig — Ludovicus Pius, as the 
Latins called him; Louis le Debonnaire, as he 
stands in French books — was a good, gentle, pious 
man, but his life was one continual warfare with 
his sons. After he had given three kingdoms to 
his three sons, their mother died ; he married 
again, and had a younger son, Carl or Charles ; 
and his desire to give a share to this poor boy led 
to no less than three great revolts on the part of 
the elder brothers, till at last their poor father died 
worn out and broken-hearted, on a little islet in 
the Rhine, in the year 840. 

The eldest son, Lothar, was then Emperor, and 
had for his own, besides the kingdom of Italy and 



86 Young Folks' History of F.rance. 

that country where Aachen (the capital) stood, 
the strip which is bounded by the Rhine and the 
Alps to the east, and the Meuse and the Rhone to 
the west. He was in the middle between his 
brothers — Lodwig, who had Germany ; and 
Charles, who had all the remainder of France. 
Of course, the}^ fought over this ; and when 
Lothar died, his two sons divided his dominions 
again — the elder (whose name was the same as 
his own) got the northern half, between the Meuse 
and Rhine ; and the younger had the old Provin- 
cia. They both died soon, and would not be 
worth speaking of, but that the name of the two 
Lothars remained to the northern kingdom. Loth 
arik or Lorraine, and because we shall sometimes 
hear of the old kingdom of Aries or Provence. 

Charles survived all his brothers, and came to 
be the head of the family, the second Emperor 
Charles, commonly called the Bald. He was King 
from his father's death in 840, but Emperor only 
for two years, from 875 to 877 ; and his life was a 
dreary time of tumult and warfare, though he was 
an active, able man, and did his best. He had a 
good deal more learning than Charlemagne had to 
begin with, and like him had a school in his pal- 
ace, where the most remarkable person was a Kelt 




"HE SHED TEARS AT THE SIGHT. 



The Cartings, 89 

from one of the old Scottish or Irish monasteries, 
called John ; and also Scot, or Erigena (a native 
of Erin). He was a great arguer and philosopher, 
and got into trouble with the Pope about some of 
his definitions. Kins^ Alfred the Great of Eno-- 
land, who had his own palace school, invited Scot 
to it, and afterwards placed him in the abbey at 
Malmesbury ; but there the rude English schol- 
ars' hatred to Scot broke out, and when he tried 
to keep order they killed him with tlie iron pens 
with which they wrote on wax tablets. At least 
so goes the story. 

Charles the Bald had little peace to enjoy his 
palace school, for the same reason as Alfred was 
at war. The Northmen were even more dreadful 
enemies to France than to Encrland. The first 
fleet of their ships had been seen by Charlemagne, 
and he had shed tears at the sight ; for he per- 
ceived that all his efforts to subdue and convert 
Bavarians, Saxons, and Frisians had not saved his 
people from a terrible enemy of their own stock, 
far more earnest in the worship of Odin, and (as 
he foresaw) likely to come in greater numbers. 
All through the troubles of Louis le Debonnaire 
parties of Nortlnnen were landing, and plundering 
any city or abbey that was not strong enough to 



90 Young Folks' History of France. 

keep them off ; and when Alfred had made Eng- 
land too mighty for them, they came all the more 
to France. Sometimes they were met in battle, 
sometimes a sum was offered to them to spare a 
city from their plunder ; and if tlie walls were 
strong, they would generally accept it. Paris was 
thus bought off in the time of Charles the Bald 
from the terrible sea-king, Hasting. Sometimes 
the bishop of the threatened place would fancy he 
had converted the sea-king and would add baptism 
to the treaty. But once when this was done, and 
there was a scarcity of white robes for the con- 
verts, they turned round in a rage, declaring that 
wherever they had been washed before they had 
been more handsomely treated. Another heathen 
had almost accepted the faith, when he paused and 
asked what had become of all his dead fathers." 
His teachers, instead of answering that God is 
merciful, and deals with men according to what 
they have, not according to what they have not, 
replied that they were in hell fire. " Then," said 
the pupil, " do you think I will desert them ? I 
cast in my lot with them wherever they are." It 
is not certain whether it was one of Witikind's 
Saxons or a Northman who made this answer. 
After Charles the Bald, three very short reigns. 




>^OBTHMEN BEFORE PAKIS. 



The Cartings, 93 

only lasting seven years altogether, of his son and 
his two grandsons, and then the head of the Carl- 
ings was Charles III., commonly called de?' dicke 
(the Thick or the Fat) — in France known as 
Charles le Gros. He was the son of Lodwis: 
called the German, the son of Lodwig the Pious, 
and seems to have been less fit than most of his 
kindred for the difficulties of his post as Emperor 
of the West, or King of the Franks. 

The Northmen were worse than ever in his time, 
not so much from his weakness, as because Harald 
the Fairhaired had made himself sole- King of 
Norwa}^, driving out all opposition ; and those who 
would not brook his dominion now came south- 
ward, intending not only to plunder, but to win 
homes for themselves. One of these was the 
famous Rolf Gauge, or Walker, so called because 
he went into battle on foot. In the year 885 Rolf 
and another sea-king named Sigurd sailed up the 
Seine with seven hundred great ships, which 
stretched for six miles along the stream, and pre- 
pared to take Paris. First, however, Sigurd sent 
for Bishop Gozlin, and promised that if the city 
were only yielded to him he would allow no 
harm to be done, no man's goods to be touched. 
But the bishop said the city had been entrusted to 



94 Young Folks' History of France. 

him and Count Eudes (the governer) by the 
Emperor, and that they could not yield it up ; and 
for full thirteen months the place was besieged, 
until at last the Emperor arrived with an arm\ 
collected from all the nations under him : but, 
after all, he did not fight — he only paid the 
Northmen to leave Paris, and go to winter in 
Burgundy, which was at enmity with him. In 
fact, every part of the domains of the empire was 
at enmit}^ with poor fat Charles ; and the next 
year (887) a diet or council met on the banks of 
the Rhine and deposed him. Arnulf, a son of the 
short-lived Carloman, was made Emperor, Count 
Eudes was crowned King of France, Guy (Duke 
of Spoleto) set up a kingdom in Italy, Boso of 
Aries called himself King of Provence, and Rodolf 
(another count) was crowned at St. Moritz King 
of Burgujid}' ; so that the whole Empire of Charle- 
magne seemed to have been broken up, and Rolf 
went on conquering more than ever, especially in 
Neustria. 

The seige of Paris, here mentioned, made an 
immense impression on French and Italian fancy, 
and was the subject of many poenis and rom^-nces 
in later times. Only they mixed up together in 
one the three Karls — the Hammer, the Great, and 




C'Ol'NT KirnKS KN'TKKrV*"} TAKIS. 



The Oarlings, 97 

the Fat — and called him Carlo Magno, sur- 
rounded him with Paladins, of whom Roland or 
Orlando was foremost ; made the Saracens besiege 
Paris, and be beaten off, and pursued into Spain, 
where the battle of Roncevalles and the horn of 
Roland played their part — all having of course 
the manners of knights and ladies of the fifteenth 
century, with plenty of giants, enchanters, and 
wonders of all kinds of magical and fairy lore. 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE COUNTS OF PARIS. 

887—987. 

POOR Carl the Fat died of misery and grief 
the 3^ear after he was deposed, but he was 
not the last Carling. Besides the Emperor Arnulf, 
there was a son of Ludwig the Stammerer (another 
Carl), who tried to win the old French domains 
back from Eudes. In fact, the westerly Franks, 
who held Paris and all the country up to the At- 
lantic Ocean, had become much mixed with the 
old Gauls, and had learned to speak Latin a little 
altered — in fact, the beginning of what we call 
French — and they held with Eudes ; while the 
Franks round Laon and Soissons were much more 
German, and chiefly clung to the Carling Carl, 
though he bore no better surname than the Simple. 
The further eastward Franks of Franconia, as 
we now call it, with all the other German tribes — 
98 



The Counts of Paris. 99 

Swabians, Frisians, Saxons, Bavarians, &c., — were 
under Arnulf, and made up the kingdom of 
Germany. The Franks west of the Rhine never 
were joined to it again ; and after the death of 
Arnulf's only son, Ludwig the Child, no more 
Carlings reigned there, and soon the Saxons ob- 
tained the headship. 

The Counts of Paris were not Gauls, but Sax- 
ons who had settled in the Frank country and 
made common cause with the Gauls. They had 
the same sort of patience with which the first 
Carlings had waited till the Meer wings were quite 
worn out. Eudes let Charles the Simple govern 
the lauds between the Meuse and Seine, and when 
Eudes died, in 898, his brother Robert the Strong 
only called himself Duke of France, and left 
Charles the Simple to be King of the Franks. 

All this time Rolf and his Northmen had gone 
on conquering a home in Northern Gaul. The}' 
did not plunder and ravage like common vikings, 
but they spared the towns and made friends with 
the bishops ; and though they fought with the 
nations beyond, they treated all the country be- 
tween Brittany and the River E[)te as if it were 
their own. Charles the Simple came to an agree- 
ment with Rolf. He said that if Rolf would 



100 Young Folhs* History of France, 

become a Christian, and accept him as his king, he 
would give him his daughter in marriage, and 
grant him the possession of all these lands, as 
Duke of the Northmen. Rolf consented, and in 
911 he was baptized at Rouen, married Gisla (the 
king's daughter), and then went to swear to be 
faithful to the king. Now, this ceremony was 
called swearing fealty. It was repeated whenever 
there was a change either of the over or the 
ander-lord. The duke, count, or whatever he was, 
knelt down before the over-lord, and, holding his 
hands, swore to follow him in war, and to be true 
to him always. The over-lord, in his turn, swore 
to aid him and be true and good lord to him in 
return, and kissed his brow. In return, the under- 
lord — vassal, as he was called — was to kiss the 
foot of his superior. This was paying homage. 
Kings thus paid homage, and swore allegiance to 
the emperor ; dukes or counts, to kings ; lesser 
counts or barons, to dukes ; and for the lands they 
owned they were bound to serve their lord- in 
council and in war, and not to fight against him. 
Lands so held were called fiefs, and the whole was 
called the feudal system. Now, Rolf was to hold 
his lands in fief from the king, and he swore his 
oath, but he could not bear to stoop to kiss the 



The Counts of Paris, 103 

foot of Charles. So lie was allowed to pay hom- 
age by deputy ; but the Northman he chose was as 
proud as himself, and, mstead of bending, lifted 
the king's foot to his lips, so that poor Charles the 
Simple was upset backwards, throne and all. 

Rolf was a sincere Christian ; he made great 
gifts to the church, divided the land among his 
Northmen, and kept up such good laws that Nor- 
mandy, as his domains came to be called, was the 
happiest part of the country. It was even said 
that a gold bracelet could be left hanging on a tree 
in the forest for a whole year without any one steal- 
ing it. 

Charles the Simple, in the meantime, was over- 
thrown in another way ; for Robert of Paris and 
Duke Raoul of Burgundy made war on him, and 
took him prisoner. His wife was a sister of the 
English king Athelstan, and she fled to him with 
her young son Ludwig, or Louis. They stayed 
there while first Robert was king for a year, and 
then Raoul, and poor Charles was dying in prison 
at Peroune; but when Raoul died, in 936, the 
young Louis was invited to come back from Eng- 
land and be king. The Count of Paris, Hugh the 
Great, and Rolf's son, William Longsword (Duke 
of Normandy), joined together in making him 



104 Young Folks^ History of France, 

king ; but he was much afraid of them, and lived 
at Laon in constant hatred and suspicion. The 
French people, indeed, held him as a stranger, and 
called him Louis d' Outre Mer, or from beyond 
seas. 

At last William Longsword was murdered by 
the Count of Flanders, when his little son Richard 
was only seven years old. Louis thought this his 
opportunity. He went to Rouen, declared himself 
the little boy's right guardian, and carried him off 
to Laon, and there treated him so harshly that it 
was plain that there was an intention of getting 
rid of the child. So Osmond de Centeville, the 
little duke's squire, rolled him up in a bundle of 
straw, and carried him to the stable like fodder for 
his horse, then galloped off with him by night to 
Normand3\ A great war began, and Harald Blue- 
tooth, King of Denmark, came to the help of the 
Northmen. Louis was made prisoner, and only 
gained his freedom by giving up his two sons as 
hostages in his stead. Hugh, Count of Paris, 
aided young Richard of Normandy ; while the 
Saxon Emperor of Germany, Otho, aided Louis ; 
and there was a fie ^e struggle, ending in the vic- 
tory of the Count ox Paris and the Northmen. 
One of the young Frank princes died in the hands 



The Counts of Paris, 106 

of the Normans ; the other, Lothar, was given 
back to his father when peace was made, giving 
the Counts of Paris another great step in power. 

In the year 954 Louis IV. died at Rbeims, and 
his "\\?idow entreated that the great Count Hugh 
would protect Lothar. He did so, and so did his 
son and successor, Hugh — commonly called Capet, 
from the hood he wore — who managed everything 
for the young king. 

When there was a war with Otho, the Emperor, 
the Franks said, " It is a pity so many brave men 
should die for two men's quarrel. Let them fight 
a single combat, and we will have for chief which- 
ever gains." This shocked the Germans, and one 
of them said, " We always heard that the Franks 
despised their king. Now we hear it proved." 

Peace was made, and the Emperor gave Lothar's 
younger brother Charles the province of Lotharik, 
or Lorraine, as it was coming to be called. 

Lothar died soon after, in 986 ; and though his 
son Louis V. was crowned, he only lived a year, 
and when he died in 987, the great counts and 
dukes met in consultation with the chief of the 
clergy, and agreed that,, as '''he counts of Paris 
were the real heads of the b^.ce, and nobody cared 
for the Carlings, it would be- better to do like the 



106 Young Folks* History of France. 

Germans, and pass over the worn-out Carlings, 
who spoke old Frank,, while the Paris Counts 
spoke the altered Latin, which came to be called 
French. So Charles, Duke of Lorraine, was not 
listened to when he claimed his nephew's crown, 
but was forced to return to his own dukedom, 
where his descendants ruled for full eight hundred 
years, and then again obtained the empire, as you 
will hear. 

And in 987, Hugh Capet, Count of Paris, was 
crowned King of France, and from that time 
French history begins. At first it was Gaulish 
history, then it was Frank history, but at last it 
has become French history. 

The family which began with Robert the Strong 
exists still, after more than one thousand years, of 
which it reigned over France for nine hundred at 
least. It is usually called the House of Capet, 
from Hugh's nickname, though it would be more 
sensible to call it the House of Paris. So, remem- 
ber three great families — Meerwings or Mero- 
vingians, Frank chiefs ; Carlings or Garlovingians, 
the chief of whom was Emperor of the West; 
House of Paris, or Capetians, Kings of France. 



CHAPTER X. 

HUGH CAPET. 

987—997. 

GET one of the older maps of France, where 
it is in provinces, and not departments, and 
I will try to show you what it was to be King of 
France when Hugh Capet was crowned at Rheims. 
Remember, there had once been a great Empire of 
the West ; indeed, there was an empire still, only 
the head of it was a Saxon instead of a Frank, 
and it had been divided into different nations or 
tribes, as it were, each ruled over by an officer or 
count or duke of the Emperor's. Now, the na- 
tions had fallen apart in groups, and their chiefs 
held together according to what suited them, or 
who was the strongest, and some with more, some 
with less, feeling that the Emperor had a right 
'iver them all. But as to meddling in the manage- 

107 



108 Young Folks^ History of France, 

ment of a duke or count's province, no emperor 
nor king had any power to do that. 

The new king was Duke of France, and Count 
of Paris, and Guardian of the Abbey of St. 
Denj^s. So in the place called the Isle of France 
he was really master, and his brother Henri was 
Duke of Burgundy. On the Loire was the great 
county of Anjou, with a very spirited race of 
counts ; and to the eastward were Vermandois and 
Champagne, also counties. In all these places the 
nobles, like the king himself, were descended from 
the old Franks ; but the people in the towns and 
villages were Gauls, ajid they all talked the form 
of broken Latin which was then called the Langue 
d'oil, because oil or oui was the word for yes. 
This has now turned into French. In Normandy 
the people were Northmen, but were fast learning 
to talk nothing but French ; and in Brittany both 
duke and people were still old Kymry, and talked 
Kymric. They had never been much under the 
Romans or Franks. They hated the French and 
Normans, and never paid them any homage if they 
could help it ; but the Norman dukes always con- 
sidered that Brittany had been put under them, 
and this led to plenty of wars. 

The southern half of -the country had only been 



Sugh Capet. Ill 

overrun from time to time, never subdued or peo- 
pled even in the greatest Carling times. There 
the people were less Gaul than Roman, and talked 
a less altered Latin, which was called Langue d'oc^ 
because they said oc instead of oui ; and it was 
also called Romance or Provengal. Old Latin 
learning and manners, with their graces and ele- 
gances, were still kept up in these parts, and the 
few Frank chieftains who had come in had con- 
formed to them. These were the Dukes of 
Aquitaine or Guyenne, the Counts of Toulouse, 
and the Counts of Narbonne. But in the south- 
west of Aquitaine, near the Pyrenees and the sea, 
were an old race called Basques, who seem to be 
older still than the Gauls, and do not speak their 
language, but a strange and very difficult one of 
their own. The Basques, where more mixed with 
the other inhabitants in the plains, were called 
Gascons in France, Vascons in Spain, and were 
thought great boasters. 

These Romance-speaking counts were consid- 
ered by the King of France to belong to him ; but 
whether they considered themselves to belong to 
the King of France was quite a different thing. 
The County of Provence, Old Provincia, certainly 
did not, but held straight from the Holy Roman 



112 Young Folks* Sistory of France, 

Empire. So did the other countries to the east- 
ward, where a German tongue was spoken, but 
which had much to do with the history of France 
— namely, Lorraine, where the old Carlings still 
ruled, and Flanders. 

So you see a king of France was not a very 
mighty person, and had little to call his own. But 
just as the empire was cut up into little divisions, 
so each dukedom or county was cut into lesser 
ones. If the duke or count did homage to 
emperor or king, he had under him barons (some- 
times counts) who did homage in their turn for 
the lands they held. And as the king could not 
make war without a council of hit; counts and 
dukes, no more could the duke or count without a 
parliament or council of his barons. When monej' 
was wanted, the clergy and the burghers from the 
lowns had to be called too, and to settle what they 
would give. The lands held in this way were 
called fiefs, and the great men who held straight 
from the king himself were crown vassals; those 
under them were their vassals. In time of war 
the king called his crown vassals, they called their 
barons, the barons called the vavasours or freemen 
under them, and got their men in from working on 
the farms, and out they went. Money was not 



JSugh Capet, US 

common then, so the lands were held on condition 
of serving the lord in war or by council, of giving 
a share of help on great occasions in his family or 
their own, and so many days' work on his own 
farm when it was wanted. 

This was called the feudal system, and some- 
times it worked well ; but if the baron was a hard 
man, the poor peasants often suffered sadl}-, for he 
would call them to work for liim when their own 
crops were spoiling, or take the best of all they 
had.. And the Franks had got into such a way of 
despising and ill-treating the poor Gauls, that they 
hardly looked on them as the same creatures as 
themselves. When two barons went to war — and 
this they were always doing — the first thing they 
did was to burn and destroy the cottages, corn, or 
cattle on each other's property, and often the peas- 
ants too. The barons themselves lived in strong 
castles, with walls so thick that, as there was no 
gunpowder, it was not possible to break into them. 
They filled them with youths whom they were 
training to arms — the younger ones called pages, 
the elder esquires or shield-bearers ; and as they 
practised their exercises in the castle court, the 
bearing of a gentleman was called courtesy. 
When a squire had attended his knight battle, 



114 Young FoWs History of France, 

grown perfect in all his feats of arms, could move 
about easily in his heavy shirt of little chains of 
linked steel, and ride a tilt with his lance against 
another man armed like himself, and had learned 
enough to be a leader, he was made a knight or 
chevalier, as the French called it, by the accolade, 
that is a blow on the shoulders with the flat of 
the ' sword before an elder knight. A belt and 
gilded spurs marked the knight ; and he was re- 
quired to vow that he would fight for God and his 
Church, be faithful and true, and defend the poor 
and weak. Gradually chivalr}^, as this spirit of 
knighthood came to be called, did much to bring 
in a sense of honor and generosity ; but at this 
time, in the reign of Hugh Capet, there was very 
little good to be seen in the world. All over 
France there was turbulence, cruelty, and savage 
ways; except, perhaps, in Normandy, where Duke 
Richard the fearless and his son Duke Richard the 
Good kept order and peace, and were brave, up- 
right, religious men, making their subjects learn 
the better, rather than the worse ways of France. 

Just at this time, too, the Church and the clergy 
were going on badly. The Pope had — ever since, 
at least, the time of Carl the Great — been looked 
on as the head of the whole Western Church, and 




THE ACCOLADES. 



Hugh Oapet, 117 

the people at Rome had the power of choosing the 
Pope. Two wicked women, named Marozia and 
Theodora, gained such power by their riches and 
flatteries, that they managed to have anyone 
chosen Pope whom they liked ; and of course they 
chose bad men, who would do as they pleased. 
This had gone on till the year 962, when the 
Emperor Otho came over the Alps, conquered 
Italy, and turned out the last of these shameful 
Popes. Then he and his successors chose the 
Pope ; but this was not the right way of doing 
things, and the whole Church felt it, for there 
was no proper restraint upon the Avickedness of 
the nobles. The bishops were too apt to care 
only for riches and power, and often fought like 
the lay nobles ; and in the monasteries, where 
prayer and good works and learning ought to have 
been kept up, there was sloth and greediness, if 
not worse ; and as to the people, they were hardly 
like Christians at all, but more like brute beasts in 
their ignorance and bad habits. 

Indeed, there hardly was a worse time in all the 
history of Europe than the reign of Hugh Capet, 
which lasted from 987 to 997, 




^ 



^H 



CHAPTER XL 

ROBERT THE PIOUS, 997—1031 

HENRY 1, . IO3I-IO60! 

PHILIP L, . 1060-1108. 

TN a very curious way a better spirit was stirred 

A up in the world. In the Book of Revelation 

it is said that Satan is to be bound for a thousand 

years. Now, as the year 1000 of our Lord was 

close at hand, it was thought that this meant that 

the Day of Judgment was coming then, and there 
118 



Henry I. 119 

was great fear and dread at the thought. At first, 
however, the effect only seemed to be that the 
wicked grew worse, for the}- feasted anrl drank 
and revelled, like, the men before the flood ; and 
when the year 1000 began, so many thought it not 
worth while to sow their corn, that there was a 
most dreadful famine and great distress every- 
where, so that there were even wretches who set 
traps in the woods to catch little children for their 
food. 

But all this time there were good men who 
taught repentance, and one blessed thing tlie}- 
brought about while people's hearts were soft with 
dread, was what was called the Truce of God, 
namely, an agreement that nobody should fight on 
Sundays, Saturdays, or Fridays, so that three days 
in the week were peaceable. The monasteries 
began to improve, the clergy to be more diligent, 
and the king himself, whose name was Kobert, 
was one of the best and most religious men in his 
kingdom. He used to come to the Abbey at St. 
Denys every morning to sing with the monks ; he 
used the Psalms every day in prayer and praise, 
and wrote and set to music several Latin hymns,' 
which he carried to Rome and laid ou the altar at 
St. Peter's ; and he loved nothing so well as wait- 



120 Young Folks' History of France^ 

ing on beggars, and dressing the wounds of the 
sick. But he could not manage his kingdom well, 
and everyone took advantage of him. He had 
married his cousin, Bertha of Burgundy, who was 
heiress of ArJes in Provence. Now Provence 
belonged to the Empire, and the Emperor did not 
choose that the Kings of France should have it ; 
so he made the Pope, whom he had appointed, 
declare that Robert and Bertha were such near 
relations that they could not be husband and wife, 
and, with great grief, Robert submitted. Bertha 
went into a nunnery and he married Constance of 
Aquitaine. She brought all the gay fashions of 
Southern France with her, and her followers wore 
their clothes and cut their hair, sung songs and 
made jokes, in a way that offended the Northern 
French very much. She was vain and light- 
minded herself, could not endure the king and his 
beggars, and grew weary of his hymns and prayers. 
The sons were more like her than like their father, 
and Robert had a troubled life, finding little peace 
except in church, until he died in the year 1031. 

His eldest son, Henry I., reigned after him, and 
the second, Robert, became Duke of Burgundy, 
and began a family of dukes which lasted on four 
hundred years. The spirit of improvement that 




liOBJiiiT AND THE I'OOIJ. 



llenry I. 123 

had begun to stir was going on. Everybody was 
becoming more religious. The monks in their con- 
vents began either to set themselves to rights, or 
else they founded fresh monasteries in new places, 
with stricter rules, so as to make a new beofinnino-. 
And a very great man, whose name was Hilde- 
brand, was stirring up the Church not to go on 
leaving the choice of the Pope to the Emperor, but 
to have him j)roperl\' appointed by the clergy of 
the Diocese of Rome, who were called Cardinals 
— that is, chiefs. Though there was much fierce- 
]iess and wildness, and much wickedness and cru- 
elty, among the great nobles, they still cared more 
for religion ; they built churches, they tried to 
repent as they grew old, and some went on pil- 
grimage to pray for the forgiveness of their sins at 
the Hol}^ Sepulchre, where our Blessed Lord once 
lay. 

One of these pilgrims was Robert the Magnifi- 
cent, Duke of Normandy. He walked on foot 
very humbly in the country, but at Constanti- 
nople, he rode through the gates of the city with 
his mule shod with silver shoes, loosely fastened 
on, so that the people might pick them up. He 
died on his way, and his young son, William, had 



124 Young Folks' Hutory qf France. 

to light very hard with enemies on all sides before 
he could keep his dukedom. 

Henry I. had been dead six j^ears, and his son 
Phillip I. had reigned six, from 1060, when this 
great Duke of Normandy became still greater, b}' 
winning for himself the kingdom of England. 
Philip did not much wish this. Pie was afraid of 
William, and did not at all wish to see him grow 
so much more powerful than himself. He spoke 
contemptuously of the new King of England 
whenever he could, and at last it was one of his 
foolish speeches that made William so angry as to 
begin* the war in which the great conqueror met 
with the accident that caused his death. 

Philip was by no means a good man. After he 
had lost his first wife, he fell in love with the 
beautiful Countess of Anjou, Bertrade de Mgnt- 
fort, and persuaded her to come and pretend to be 
his wife. His son Louis, who was so active and 
spirited that he was called Veveille^ which means 
the Wide-awake, showed his displeasure, and 
Philip and Bertrade so persecuted him, that he 
was obliged to come for refuge to England. How- 
ever, in spite of the king's wickedness, there was 
much more spirit of religion in the people. There 
were many excellent Bishops and Abbots, and 



^%;W? 



_— ^ -jx??^ 




dU 



l\.^^ 




^ %:■■>• li.i'/fffi, V| 






/.ML- . "-• 



^,-^-5?.,^ 



'^^^M^^'l 



QOD vriLLKia IT. 



Philip I. 127 

some good nobles ; Godfrey de Bouillon, Duke of 
Lorraine, the descendant of the old Callings, was 
one of the very best of the princes at that, or in- 
deed, any other time. 

It was in this reign that a pilgrim, named Peter 
the Hermit, came home with a piteous history of 
the cruelty of the Mahometans, who had possession 
of the Holy Land. He obtained leave from the 
Pope, Urban IL, to call all the Avarriors of Christ- 
endom to save the Holy Sepulchre, where our 
Blessed Lord had lain, from the hands of the un- 
believers. The first great preaching was at Cler- 
mont, in Auvergne ; and there the whole people 
were so much moved that the}" cried as if with one 
voice, " God willeth it," and came crowding round 
to have their left shoulders marked with a cross 
made of two strips of cloth. An army came to- 
gether from many of the lands of the west, and the 
princes agreed to lay aside all their quarrels while 
the Crusade lasted. The good Duke Godfrey led 
them, all through Germany and Hungary, and 
across the narrow straits of the Bosphorus, meet- 
ing with many troubles and perils as they went ; 
but at last they did get safe to Jerusalem, laid 
seige to it and conquered it. Then they chose 
Godfrey to be King of Jerusalem, but he would 



128 Young Folks' History of France. 

never be crowned ; he said it was not fitting for 
him to wear a crown of gold where his Lord had 
worn a crown of thorns. Many nobles and knights 
stayed with him to help him to guard the holy 
places, while the others went home. Two convents 
of monks resolved that, besides being monks they 
would be soldiers of the Holy War. These were 
called the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, or 
Hospitaller Knights, and the Knights of the Tem- 
ple. The Hospitallers had their name because they 
had a house at Jerusalem for receiving the poor 
pilgrims, and nursing them if they were sick or 
wounded. People from England, Spain, Germany 
and Italy were of the Crusade, and might belong 
to the two orders of knighthood, but there were 
always more French there than of any other nation. 
Louis the Wide-awake was fetched home by the 
French barons, and ruled for his father for the last 
six years of Philip's reign, though the old king, did 
not die till the year 1108. 




THE LKAPEK'; OF '||||- iiR<T dcr-vMH. 



CHAPTER XII. 

LOUIS VI. LE GROS. 
1108-1137. 

IT is disappointing to find that Louis the Wide- 
awake soon became Louis the Fat (Louis le Gros, 
as in that time when everybody had a nickname, 
he was called). But still he was spirited and ac^ 
tive, and much more like the old Counts of Paris 
than any of the four kings before him had been ; 
and he was a good, brave and just man, who made 
himself respected. One great change was going 
on in his time, Avhich had begun in that of his 
father. The old Roman cities in the South of 
France had gone on governing themselves much as 
in the Roman times, but the northern towns had 
most of them fallen under the power of some 
Prankish noble family, who were apt to call on 
them for money, and take away the young men to 
fight. Whenever one of these towns grew rich 
and strong enough, it would buy leave from the 
king and the noble to take care of itself. Then 

131 



l32 Yoking Folks^ History of France, 

the noble had no more right over it ; but the burgh- 
ers built their walls, practiced: themselves in fight- 
ing, and guarded their gates and t6wers. All the 
chief men in each trade made up a town council, 
and one of them was chosen each year to be the 
mayor or provost, and manage their affairs. A 
great bell was rung when the people were wanted 
to come together, or in time of danger ; and the}^ 
knew well how to take care of themselyes. The 
burghers only went out to war when the king him- 
self wanted them, and then they went on foot, and 
wore plain armor, not like the gentlemen, who 
were all knights and squires. The free towns were 
called communes ; but often they could ' not get or 
keep their freedom without a great deal of fighting, 
for the nobles were very jealous of them, and the 
kings never made more communes than they could 
help. 

Do you remember that when Robert, Duke of 
Normandy, governed so badly, his Normans asked 
King Henry L, his brother, to help them ? Louis 
did not choose to see the eldest brother despoiled, 
and he was glad that the King of England and the 
Duke of Normandy should not be the same person. 
So he helped Kobert, but could not keep him from be- 
ing beaten at Tenchebray, and afterwards made pris- 



Louis VL, Le Grros, 133 

oner. Afterwards Louis befriended poor young 
William, Robert's son ; but he was beaten again at 
Brenneville. There were nine hundred knights in 
the battle of Brenneville, and only three were 
killed, the armor they wore was so strong. After- 
wards Louis helped William to obtain the County 
of Flanders, wliich he inherited in rio-ht of his 
grandmother. Queen Matilda ; but the poor young 
prince had not long been settled in it before he died 
of a hurt in the Imnd from a lance-point. 

Three noted men lived in the time of Louis VI. 
They were Suger, St. Bernard, and Pierre Abail- 
ard. Suger was abbot of the monastery of St. 
Denys', of which the Kings of France, as Counts 
of Paris, were always the protectors ; where their 
most precious banner, the oriflamme, was kept, and 
where they always were buried. He was a clever 
and able man, the "king's chief adviser, and may, 
perhaps, be counted as the first of the men who 
filled the place of king's adviser, or, as we now call 
it, prime minister. Li those times these statesmen 
were almost always clergy, because few others had 
any learning. Pierre Abailard was a learned Bre- 
ton, who studied deeply at Paris (where there was 
a University much esteemed), and went very far 
into all sorts of sciences. He became the teacher 



1B4 Young Folks' History of France. 

of a young lady called Helo'ise, niece to a clergy- 
man at Paris. They fell in love with one another, 
and he took her away to Brittany ; but she left 
him soon after their marriage, because a married 
man could not be a priest, and only clergy could 
flourish as scholars. So she went into a convent, and 
at last became the abbess ; and Abailard became a 
monk of St. Denys', where he went on studying 
and writing till at last he confused himself, and 
taught wrong doctrines, which a council of the 
Church condemned ; but the struggle and debate 
went on many years longer, until the death of 
Abailard in the course of the next reign. Heloise. 
who survived him, made this epitaph for him m 
Latin : " Here lies Pierre Abailard, to whom alone 
was open all possible knowledge." But to know 
all that can be known does not bring peace and 
happiness ; and Bernard, the monk, was a more 
really great man. He was the son of a nobleman 
in Burgundy, and had been brought up by a good 
mother. One of the monasteries that had lately 
been made the most strict, and which was much 
esteemed for the holy lives led there, was at Cit- 
eaux; and Bernard, at the age of twenty-three, 
not onl}^ retired there himself, but persuaded all his 
brothers (six in number) to go thither with him. 




LOUIS THE FAT ON AN EXPEDITION. 



Louis FZ, Le (rroB. 137 

They intended to have left the youngest, a little 
boy, to keep up the castle and inherit the lands ; 
but he said, '• What ! all heaven for you, and earth 
for me ? " and insisted on going with them. It 
seems to us a mistake ; but we must remember that 
a noble in the twelfth century had dreadful temp- 
tations to be cruel and lawless, and that a convent 
often seemed the only way to avoid them. 

Citeaux grew so overfull of monks that a branch 
convent was founded at Clairvaux, of which Ber- 
nard was made the abbot. His brothers went 
thither with him, and their old father came after a 
time to end his days among his sons. 

Bernard was one of the most holy and earnest of 
men, and so learned and wise that he is sometimes 
called the last of the Fathers of the Church, for 
many of his writings still remain. His sermons 
were full of love and beauty, though he never 
failed to reprove men for their crimes ; and though 
he was the most humble of men, his fame reached 
throughout his own country and the whole Church, 
and he was the adviser of kings and popes. He 
was the person best able to argue with Abailard's 
subtle errors, and the discussion between them 
lasted for many years — on, indeed, into the next 
reign. 



138 Young Folhs^ History of France. 

For Louis VI., though not an old man, fell soon 
into declining health. He thought he had con- 
trived admirably to get more power for the kings, 
by giving his son in marriage to Eleanor, the 
daughter of the Duke of Aquitaine. As she had 
no brother, her son would own that great southern 
dukedom as entirely as the County of Paris, and 
this would make a great difference. Young Louis 
was sent to marry the lady, and fetch her home ; 
but while he was gone his father became worse, and 
died in the year 1137. 

It will help you with the dates to remember that 
Louis began to govern in his father's name in 1100, 
just as the English Henry I. came to the crown ; 
and that he died three years after Henry, while 
Stephen and Matilda were fighting in England. 



CHAPTER XTIT. 

LOUIS Vll., THK YOUNG. 

IIGT— 1180. 

THE *' Young" is an odd ]iistorical name for a 
king who reigned a good many years ; but lie 
was called so at first because he Avas only eighteen 
years old Avhen he came to the throne, and the 
name clung to him because there was always some- 
thing young and simple about his character. 

The first great event of his reign was that St. 
Bernard stirred Europe once more to a crusade to 
help the Christians in Palestine, who were hard 
pressed by the Mahometans. At Vezela}- there 
was a great assembly of bishops and clerg}', 
knights and nobles ; and St. Bernard preaclied to 
them so eagerly, that soon all were fastening crosses 
to their arms, and tearing up mantles and robes 

because enough crosses had not been made beforer 

139 



140 Young Folks' History of France. 

hand for the numbers who took them. The young 
king and his beautiful queen, Eleanor of Aqui- 
taine, vowed to make the crusade, too, and set out 
with a great army of fighting men, and, besides 
them, of pilgrims, monks, women and children. 
The queen was very beautiful and very vain ; and 
though she called herself a pilgrim, she had no no- 
tion of denying herself, so she carried all her fine 
robes and rich hangings, her ladies, waiting-maids, 
minstrels and jesters. The French had no ships to 
take them direct to the Holy Land, but had to go 
by land all the way, along the shore of Asia Minor. 
Numbers of the poor pilgrims sank down and per- 
ished by the way ; and just as they had passed the 
city of Laodicea, the Mahometan army came down 
on the rear guard in a narrow valley, and began to 
make a great slaughter. The king himself had 
sometimes to get behind a tree, sometimes behind 
a rock ; and the whole army would have been cut 
off, if a poor knight named Gilbert, whom no one 
had thought much of, had not come forward, taken 
the lead, and helped the remains of the rear guard 
to struggle out of the vatley. Through all the 
rest of the march, Gilbert really led the army ; and 
yet after this he never is heard of again, and never 
seems to have looked for any reward. 




C^USAPEKS' KKTirUN. 



Louis VIL, The Young. 143 

When Palestine was reached at last, there were 
not 10,000 left out of the 400,000 who had set out 
from home ; and the gay queen's zeal was quite 
spent ; and while the king was praying at the Holy 
Sepulchre, and trying- to fight for it, she was amus- 
ing herself with all the lively youths she could 
get around her. She despised her good, pious hus- 
band, and said he was more like a monk than a 
king ; and as soon as they returned from this un- 
happy crusade, they tried to find some excuse for 
breaking their marriage. 

The Pope allowed the king to rid himself of this 
wicked lady, and let them both marry again. He 
married Constance, of Castille, and Eleanor* took 
for her husband the young English king, Henry H., 
and brought him all her great possessions. 

The very thing had come to pass that the King 
of France feared — namel}^ that the Dukes of Nor- 
mandy should get more powerful than he a\ as. For 
Henry II. was at once King of England and Duke 
of Normandy and Count of Anjou, and his wife 
was Duchess of Aquitaine and Guienne ; and as 
time went on, Henry betrothed his little sou Geof- 
frey to Constance, the orphan girl who was heiress 
to Brittany, and undertook to rule her lands for 
her ; so that the lands over which Louis luid auv 



144 Young Folhs^ History of France, 

real power were a sort of little island within the 
great sea of the possessions of the English king. 
Besides, Henry was a much cleverer man than Louis, 
and always got the better of him in their treaties. 
The Kings of France and Dukes of Normandy 
always met at Gisors, on their border, under an 
enormous elm-tree, so large that three hundred 
horsemen could find shelter under its branches; 
and these meetings never went on well for Louis. 
He was obliged to promise that his two daughters, 
Margaret and Alice, should marry Henry's two 
sons, Henry and Richard, and to give them to 
Henry to be brought up. When Henry had his 
great dispute with Archbishop Becket, about the 
question whether clergymen were subject to the 
law of the land, Becket fied to France. Louis 
loved and respected him very much, gave him 
shelter in an abbey, and tried hard to make peace 
between him and Henry, but could never succeed, 
till, after six years, Henry pretended to be recon- 
ciled, and Becket went home in the year 1170. He 
was murdered very soon after, as you have heard 
in the history of England. 

Louis must have been very much surprised when 
his own former wife. Queen Eleanor, came dis- 
guised as a man with her three eldest sons to his 



Louis VJL^ The Young. 145 

court, making great complaints of Henry for keep- 
ing the governmeni of their provinces in his own 
hands. He must have thought it only what they 
and he both deserved, and he gave them what help 
he could ; but Henry was a great deal more strong 
and crafty than any of them, and soon put them 
down. Eleanor was thrown into prison, and kept 
there as long as she lived. She richly deserved it ; 
but her sons and the people of Aquitaine did not 
think so. Those people of Aquitaine were a curi- 
ous race — they were very courtly, though not ver}' 
good; and they thought more of music, poetry, 
and love-making than of anything else, though 
they were brave men, too. Every knight was ex- 
pected to be able to hold an argument in the courts 
of love. The best poets among them were called 
troubadours ; and Eleanor herself, and her two 
sons, Richard and Geoffrey, could compose songs 
and sing them. All were as much beloved in Aqui- 
taine as Henry was hated ; and the troubadours 
did nothing but stir up tlie j^ouths to fight with 
their father and set their mother free ; but though 
they broke out many times, they could never pre- 
vail against him, 

Louis y II. was married three times — to Eleiw 
nor of Aquitaine, to Constance of Castille, and to 



146 Young Folks' History of France, 

Alice of Champagne. These thi^ queens had 
among them six daughters, but no son ; and this 
was a great grief, since no woman had ever reigned 
in France, and it was believed that the old Sa^^^an 
Franks had a law against women reigning, ^i^ .t 
any rate, this grew to be the rule in France, and^^ 
is called the Salic law. However, the questr ] , 
had not to be settled this time, for at last a s(. 
was born to Louis ; and in his joy he caused tl ; 
babe to be christened Philip, Dieu-donne^ or God- 
given. The boy was the cleverest son who had 
sprung from the House of Paris for ages past ; and 
while still quite 3'oung, cared for all that concerned 
his father and his kingdom, at an age when other 
boys care only for fcj^'Orts and games. When his 
father met the ."^Dglisii king at the elm of Gisors, 
3^oung Philip -, oked on and saw liow Henry 
over-reached an ok advantage, of Louis ; and he 
was bitterly gr^ J and angered, and made up his 
mind that sonie y he would get back all that his 
father was losii:g. 

Howevei, in the midst of his plans, young Philip 
was one da out hunting in a forest with his father, 
when he missed his companions, lost his way, and 
wandered about all night. When he was found, 
he was so sr .nt with hunger and cold that he had 



Louis VIL, The Young, l47 

a bad illness, ^Jid was in great danger for some 
days. When lie grew better, King Louis, in great 
joy, thought this precious life had been granted for 
the prayers of liis old friend Thomas a Becket, 
and asked leave of Henr}^ to come and give thanks 
at the archbishop's tomb at Canterbury. He came, 
and was welcomed as a friend and guest. He gave 
great gifts to the cathedral, and especially a beau- 
tiful ring, which became one of the great treasures 
of the place. 

He had had his beloved son, though onl}^ fifteen, 
crowned, that France might have a king over her 
Avhile he was away ; and Philip was ver^'- soon the 
only king, for good, honest, ' }>imple-minded Louis 
the Young died very soon 1^t6r his returji from 
Canterbury, in the year 11^50, fSie years before 
the death of his great enemj^, H ly II. 



'» 'i 

I 

, I 



^9C.. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

PHILLIP 11., AUGUSTUS. 

' 1180-1223. 

PHILIP the Gift of God is most commonly 
known in history as Philip Augustus. Why, 
is not quite plain ; but as he became a very power- 
ful King of France, it is most likely that one of 
the old names of the Western Emperors, who 
were all Csesar Augustus, got applied to him. 

If his father had still been Louis the Young in 
his old age, Philip might in his youth have been 
called Philip the Old, for he was much older in 
skill and cunning at fifteen than his father had 
been all his life. The whole history of his reign is 
of his endeavor to get the better of the Plantage- 
net kings of England. He so much hated the 
thought of what he had seen under the elm-tree of 
Gisors, that he cut it down ; and though he hated 

148 



Philip IL^ Augustus, 149 

King Henry and his sons all alike, he saw that the 
best waj to do them harm was by pretending 
to be the friend of whichever was not the king, 
and so helping on their quarrels. The eldest and 
third sons, Henry and Geoffrey, were by this time 
dead, and Richard, of the Lion-heart was the favor- 
ite of the Aquitaine troubadours. 

There came news from Palestine that the Chris- 
tians had been conquered by the great Saracen 
chief Saladin, and that Jerusalem had been taken 
by him. There was great lamentation, and a fresh 
crusade was determined on by all the princes of 
Europe, the Emperor, tlie King of France, the 
King of England, and his sons. The Emperor, 
Frederick of the Red Beard, set off first, but he 
was lost by the way while bathing in a river in Asia 
Minor ; and the two kings waited to arrange their 
affairs. Philip's way of doing this was to get 
Richard to his court, and to pretend to be so fond 
of him that they both slept in the same bed, drank 
out of the same cup, and ate out of the same dish ; 
but he was stirring up Richard — who needed it 
little — to demand his mother's freedom and the 
land of Aquitaine, and to rebel against his father, 
leading his brother John with him. This was the 
rebellion which broke the heart of Henry II. He 



150 Young Folks' History of France, 

died, and Richard went on his crusade as king. 
It was the first crusade when the armies went 
by sea instead of land. Richard had his own fleet, 
but Philip was obliged to hire ships of the mer- 
chants of Genoa ; and when the two fleets reached 
Sicily, they did not venture to sail on till the win- 
ter was over, but waited till spring. Now that 
Eichard was king, Philip no longer pretended to 
love him ; and there were manj^ disputes among the 
Crusaders. At last they sailed on to help the 
Christians, who were besieging Acre. Philip ar- 
rived first, and quickened the works ; but still no 
great things were done till Richard arrived ; and 
then Philip was vexed that every one talked so 
much more of the English king's brave doings than 
of himself. The heat of the climate soon made 
both kings fall sick ; and when the city was taken, 
Philip's doctors declared that he must go home at 
once if he wished to recover. Most likely they 
were right ; but he was glad to go, for he hoped to do 
Richard a great deal of harm in his absence. The 
Pope forbade any one to attack a Crusader's lands 
while he was away; but Philip could stir up 
Richard's subjects and his brother against him. 
And when, as you remember, Richard was made 
captive in Austria, on his way home, Philip even 




CAPTUBK OK ACKK. 



Philip Z7!, Augustus, 153 

sent money to the Emperor of Geriiiany to keep 
him prisoner. At last, when the German princes 
had forced the Emperor to set him free, Philip 
sent word to John, in this short note, " Take care 
of yourself, for the devil is let loose. " 

But when, two years later, Richard of the Lion- 
heart was killed at Limoges. Philip became John's 
most bitter enemy, and the friend of the only other 
Plantagenet left, namely, Geoffrey's son, Arthur, 
Duke of Brittany, who appealed to his suzerain, 
Philip, to make him Duke of Normandy and Count 
of Anjou, as son of the elder brother. Philip 
called on John to give up these lands ; but John 
offered to make a peace by marrying his niece, 
Blanche, the daughter of his sister and tiie King of 
Castille, to Philip's son, Louis the Lion. Philip 
was in trouble himself at the time, and consented 
to make peace. 

Philip's trouble was by his own fault. His first 
wife, Isabel of Hainault, was dead, and he had 
thought to make friends with the King of Den- 
mark by marrying his daughter Ingeborg. But 
the Danes were then very rough and untaught, and 
poor Ingeborg was a dull, clumsy, ignorant girl, 
not at all like a courtly lady. P Ip took such a 
dislike to her that he sent her into a convent, and 



154 Young Folks' History of France, 

married the beautiful Agnes de Meranie, the 
daughter of the Duke of the Tyrol. But there 
was then ruling one of the mightiest Popes who 
ever lived, called Innocent III. He was deter- 
mined not to let any one, however great, go on in 
sin unwarned ; and he called on Philip to put 
Agnes away, and take back his only true wife. 
And when Philip would not. Innocent laid the 
kingdom under an interdict — that is, he forbade 
any service to go on in an}- church except in those 
of the monks and the nuns, and there only with 
the doors shut against all outside. The whole na- 
tion Avas, as it were, cut off from God for their 
prince's sin. Philip tried to stand up against this 
dreadful sentence, at first ; but he found the peo- 
ple could not bear it, so he sent Agnes away, and 
took Ingeborg back. He was then absolved, and 
his kingdom went on prospering. When, in 1203, 
Arthur of Brittany perished in prison, Philip sum- 
moned John, as a vassal of France, to answer for 
the murder. The great vassals met, the trumpets 
sounded, and John was called on to appear ; but as 
he did not come, he was sentenced to have for- 
feited his lands of Normandy and Anjou, and 
Philip entered them with his army and took the 
castle, while John could not get men or money to 



Philip 11.^ Augustus, 155 

come and stop him ; and only the lands of old 
Eleanor of Aquitaine, who was still alive, remained 
to the English. 

This forfeit made a great step in the power of 
the French kings, since not only had the English 
kings lost Normandy and Anjou, but these two 
great domains belonged to the French king as entire- 
ly as his County of Paris. He had no duke or count 
between him and. the barons or cities. Philip's de- 
signs against the Plantagenets were favored by 
John's own crimes. The quarrel with the Pope 
that you have heard of, about the Archbishop of 
Canterbury, made Innocent III. invite Philip to go 
and conquer England, but the fear of this brought 
John to make peace with the Pope. 

However, John's nephew, Otho of Brunswick, 
was emperor, and he too had quarrelled with the 
Pope, who wanted to make 3^oung Frederick of 
Sicily emperor. Philip took Frederick's part, and 
Otho marched against him into Flanders. All the 
French nobles had gathered round their king, and 
at Bouvines there was one of the greatest battles 
and victories that French history tells of. Otho 
had to gallop away from the battle, and Philip 
said, '' We shall see nothing more of him than his 



166 Young Folks History of France, 

back." This great battle was fought in the year 
1214. 

Very shortly after, Philip's eldest son, Louis, 
called the Lion, was invited to England by the 
barons, because they could no longer bear the hor- 
rible cruelties and wickednesses of John ; and he 
would not keep Magna Charta, which he had 
signed. Louis went to England, and London was 
put in his hands ; but when King John died, the 
barons liked better to have his little innocent son, 
Henry III., as their king, than to be joined on to 
France. So, after Louis's troops had been beaten 
by land and by sea, he came home and gave up the 
attempt. 

But Philip Augustus certainly had the wish of 
his life fulfilled, for he had seen his foes of the 
House of Plantagenet humbled and brought to 
bitter trouble, and he had taken to himself the 
chief of their great possessions. 

He died in the year 1223, having lived in the 
reigns of four English kings, and done his utmost 
to injure them all. He was not a good man ; but 
as he was brave and clever, and a good friend to 
the towns, the French were very proud of him. 



CHAPTER XV. 

THE ALBIGENSES 1190. 

LOUIS YIIL, THE LION . . . 1223-1226. 

LOUIS, the Lion had a very short reign, but 
most of his doings had been in his father's 
time ; and I left them out that you might hear, all 
in one, as it were, the history of Philip Augustus 
and his crafty dealings with the House of Planta- 
genet. 

Now, we will go back and speak of Louis, before 
he came to the throne, and of the people he chiefly 
fought with. You remember that the South of 
France, which had first been settled by the Romans, 
and had never been peopled by the Franks, was 
much' more full of learning and thinking than the 
northern part. T\iQ Langue doc was much more 
used for poetry and elegant speech than the Langue 
d'ouL But somehow, among these people there 

157 



l58 Young Folks' History of France* 

arose up a heresy (that is, a false doctrine), which 
seems to have come to them from the East. It 
would not be well to tell you all about it, even if 
you or I could understand it ; but one great point 
in it was that these people said that the Power of 
Evil is as great and strong as the Power of Good, 
thus making Satan like another God, as some old 
Eastern pagans thought. The evil ways of Chris- 
tians strengthened the notions of these people, who 
were called Albigenses, from the town of Albi. 
Their southern cleverness saw what was amiss, 
and they made songs laughing at the clergy, and 
at the way they dealt with holy things, and often 
at the holy things themselves, till they led away a 
great many people after them, and even some of 
the great princes of the South, who began to feel 
as if the Albigenses were something specially be- 
longing to themselves, and to the old culture of 
the Roman Provincia. 

But the great Pope, Innocent III., could not 
allow all this country to fall away from the Church. 
While he was thinking what was to be done, two 
men offered themselves to him. One was a Span- 
iard, named Dominic, who wished to found an 
order of brethren to go forth, preach, teach and 
bring back heretics ; the other was an Italian, 



The Alhigenses. 159 

named Francis, who cared above all for holiness, 
and longed to be like our Lord, and wanted to 
draw together men within the Ciiurch to be more 
spiritual and less worldly, and give the enemy no 
cause to take offence at their faults. Both these 
good men were allowed to institute brotherhoods, 
orders not quite like the monks in the old con- 
vents, but still poorer. Their brethren were called 
friars, and went about preaching and hearing con- 
fessions, and helping men and women to lead holier 
lives — those of St. Francis in Christian places, 
those of St. Dominic wherever there was heresy. 
Dominic was further allowed to judge and punish 
with severe penances and captivity such as would 
not be convinced, and the inquiry into opinions 
which he and his friars made was called the 
Inquisition. 

But the great dukes and counts in the South of 
France — in Provence, Toulouse, Foix, Albi, and 
many others — did not choose to have their people 
interfered with. They all spoke much the same 
language, and they were resolved, right or wrong, 
to hold together ; and it is really one of the most 
difficult questions in the world whether it is well 
or ill to put down false teachings. The more peo- 
ple think and read the more they doubt about per- 



160 Young Folks' History of France, 

secution ; and so these Provencal princes, being 
cleverer than their rough neighbors, were the less 
disposed to punish their subjects ; but they were 
also less religious and less earnest, and Pope Inno- 
cent had no question but that they ought to be 
called to an account. So he proclaimed a crusade 
against them, as if they had been Saracens, and 
made the leader of it Simon, Count de Montfort, a 
stern, hard, though pious old knight, the father of 
the Simon de Montfort who fought with Henry 
III. Pedro II., King of Aragon, joined the 
Albigenses, and there was a terrible war all over 
the south. In the year 1213 a great battle was 
fought at Muret, in the County of Toulouse, in 
which the Albigenses were beaten, and the King 
of Aragon killed. Those were cruel times, and the 
Crusaders treated their captives very savagely. 
The Count of Toulouse, Raymond, stood against 
the Crusaders, and with his son, also named Ray- 
mond, fought hard ; but the Pope declared them 
unworthy to rule, and granted Simon de Montfort 
all the lands he had conquered in the South of 
France. In the northern parts he was looked on as 
a saint, and when he went to do homage to the 
king, people ran to touch his horse and his clothes 
as something holy. Indeed, he was a sincerely 









^^«r^.- 



»*VJ-J-7^ 



IIIK l;A!Tl.i; I'K -MLliKT. 



Louis VIIZ, The Lion, 163 

good man ; aiiiL though he did many things so 
cruel that I cannot tell you of them, it was all be- 
cause he thought it his duty. Louis the Lion aided 
him, and learnt the art of war during these battles ; 
but when tlie Crusaders tried to take the city of 
Toulouse, the people, knowing how horribly they 
would be treated, held out against them ; and at 
last, in 1217, the year of our King John's death, 
one night, when Simon was attacking the walls, a 
woman threw down a heavy stone, which struck 
him on the head and killed him. 

His eldest son, Amaury, was not such an able 
warrior, and the Albigenses began to get the better 
of the Crusaders, while Louis the Lion was away in 
England ; but in the year 1223, when Philip died, 
and he became King of France, he was called upon 
by the Pope to begin war again. He fought with 
all hi^ might ; but in spite of his title of the Lion, 
he was not as able a soldier as he was a brave man, 
and in the three years of his reign he did not much 
weaken the Albigenses, though he was at war witt 
them all through his short reign. While he was 
passing through Auvergne, a sickness broke out in 
his army, he fell ill himself, and died in the year 
1226. 

His eldest son, Louis IX., was only eleven years 



164 Young Folks'* History of France^ 

old ; but the queen, Blanche of Castille, his mother, 
was a very good and spirited woman, and man- 
aged the kingdom excellently. She sent troops, 
who gained such successes that at last Count I^ay- 
mond of Toulouse was forced to make peace, and 
to give his only child into Blanche's hands to be 
» brought up as a wife for her third son, Alfonso. 
The Count of Provence, who held from the Em- 
peror, had four daughters, and no son, and these 
ladies were married in due time to the King of 
France and his brother Charles, and to the King of 
England and his brother Richard, and thus all that 
great country of the Languedoc was brought 
under the power and influence of the north. The 
Dominican friars and the Inquisition were put in 
authority everywhere, that the false doctrine of the 
Albigenses might be rooted out ; and there was 
much of barbarous punishment, imprisonmeijt tor- 
ture, and even burning of heretics. It Avas a cruel 
age, and no doubt terrible things were done ; but 
that the punishments were savage does not make 
the faith of the Albigenses right. 

It was a time when much thought was going on 
throughout Europe. Pope Innocent III. had made 
the Church of Rome very powerful, and though 
no one who came after was as great as he was, his 



L^uis Vlll.y The Lion* 165 

plans were followed out, and the King of France, 
who was alwa3^s called the Eldest Son ot the 
Church, was one of the first to be reckoned on for 
carrying them out. They were often plans for 
mere earthly power more than spiritual, but all 
good men thought it their duty to aid them, and it 
was a time when there were many good men. The 
work of St. Bernard and the example of St. Francis 
were doing much to make the lives of men and 
women more pure and holy, and there was more 
learning and less roughness than in the last age. 
Everything that was then made was strangely 
beautiful too — castles, churches and cities were in 
most graceful architecture ; armor and dress were 
exquisite in color and shape, and the illuminations 
in the manuscripts were as lovely as hand could 
make them. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

ST. LOUIS IX. 

1226. 

THE little king, Louis IX, who came to the 
throne in 1226, when he was only eleven years 
old, was happy in having a good and wise mother. 
Queen Blanche of Castille, who both brought him 
up carefull}^, and ruled his kingdom for him well 
and wisely. 

She was sometimes a little too jealous and stern, 
and as he grew up she was jealous of his caring for 
anybody else. When he married Margaret of 
Provence, she did not like the young husband and 
wife to be very much together, for fear Louis should 
be drawn off from graver matters ; but on the 
whole she was an excellent mother and queen, and 
there have been very few kings in any country so 
good and just and holy as Louis was. He never 

166 



St. Louis IX. 167 

seems in all his life, to have done anything that he 
knew to be wrong, and he cared more for God's 
honor than anything else. Sometimes such very 
pious kings forgot that they had any duty to their 
people and did not make good rulers ; but Louis 
knew that he could not do his duty properly to God 
if he did not do it to man, so he showed himself a 
wise, just prince and good warrior. He was so 
much stronger and cleverer than our poor foolish 
Henry III., that his barons thought he could take 
away all Guyenne, which had been left to King 
John ; but he said he would not do an injustice. 
Henry had married his queen's sister, and their 
children would be cousins, so he would not do 
what would lead to wars between them. But when 
Henry wanted him to give back Normandy and 
Anjou, he had the matter well looked into; and he 
decided that King John had justly forfeited them 
for murdering Arthur of Brittany, and so he ought 
to keep them. So he was always sensible as well 
as just. 

He was still a young man, when he had a very 
bad illness and nearly died. In the midst of it he 
made a vow that if he got well he would go to the 
Holy Land, and fight to set Christ's Sepulchre free 
from the Mahometans. As soon as he grew better 



168 Young Folks* History of France, 

he renewed the vow, though it grieved all his peo- 
ple very much ; but he left them to be governed 
by his mother, and as soon as he could get his army 
together, he set out on his crusade with his wife 
and his brothers. 

As the Mahometans who held the Holy Land 
came from Egypt, it was thought that the best way 
of fighting them would be to attack them in their 
own country. So Louis sailed for Egypt, and be- 
seiged and took Damietta ; and there he left his 
queen, Margaret, while he marched on by the side 
of the Nile, hoping to meet the eneni}-. But it was 
a bad season, for the Nile was overflowing, and the 
whole country was one swamp, where the knights 
and horses could hardly move, and grievous sick- 
ness broke out. The king himself became very ill, 
but he and his men roused themselves when they 
found that a battle was near. It was fought at 
Mansoureh. The adversaries were not native 
Egyptians, but soldiers called Memlooks. They 
had been taken from their homes in early infancy, 
made Mahometans, and bred up to nothing but 
w^ar ; and very terrible warriors they were and 
quite as much feared by the Sultan and the Egyp- 
tians as by the enemy. However, the French 
feared nothing ; they were only too fool-hardy ; 



tSt. Louis IX. 169 

and when the English Earl of Salisbury gave ad- 
vice to be prudent and keep a guard at the camp, 
the king's brother Robert called out that he was 
afraid, and the earl answered in a passion that he 
should go as far among the enemy as Robert him- 
self. So they all dashed in, and many others, and 
the Memlooks got between them and the camp, 
and cut them off and killed them. The king was 
so weak that he could hardly sit on his horse, but 
he tried to call his men together and save them ; 
but it was all in vain, the Memlooks were all round 
them, and he was so faint that his knights took him 
off his horse, and laid his head in a woman's lap, 
fearing each moment to see him die. He gave 
himself up as a prisoner, and lay day after day in 
a hut with two priests waiting on him. He re- 
spected them so much that he could not bear to let 
them do servants' work for him ; and he was so 
patient and brave, that the Memlooks themselves 
said he was the best man they had ever seen, and 
wanted to make him Sultan of Egypt. At last it 
was settled that he should be set free, if he would 
pay a heavy ransom, and give up the city of 
Damietta, which he had taken. This was done, 
and afterwards he embarked with his queen and 
the remains of his army, and went to the Holy 



170 Young Folks' History of France, 

Land ; but there was a peace just then, and no 
fighting ; and after he had fulfilled his vow of 
pilgrimage, he returned to France, but not to find 
his mother there, for she had died in his absence. 

Fourteen most happy and good 3'ears followed 
his return. He was a most wise and valiant king 
in his own kingdom, and thoroughly just and up- 
right. There was a great oak-tree near his palace 
of Vincennes, under which he used to sit, hearing 
the causes of the poor as well as the rich, and doing 
justice to all. 

He had a clear good sense and judgment, that 
made him see the right thing to do. The Pope 
had a great quarrel with the Emperor Frederick 
II., and tried to make Louis take up arms against 
him, as his father had done against King John of 
England; but the good king saw that even the 
Pope's bidding would not make this right, and held 
back. He and Henry III. of England were very 
loving brothers-in-law ; and during the barons' 
wars in England, Eleanor, the young wife of Ed- 
ward, the heir of England, was left with his aunt, 
Queen Margaret of France. You recollect that 
Louis IX. and Henry III. and their two brothers, 
Charles, Count of Anjou, and Richard, Earl of 
Gornwall, had married the four daughters of tho^ 



St, Louis IX, 171 

Count of Provence. The Earl of Cornwall was 
chosen to be King of the Romans — that is, next 
heir to the Western ^llmpire — and when her three 
sisters were queens, the fourth sister, Beatrice, 
kept the County of Provence. . She is said to have 
been unhappy because her sisters sat on thrones, 
when she only sat on a stool ; but before long^ the 
Pope offered the kingdom of the two Sicilies to 
her husband, Charles of Anjou. It rightly be- 
longed to the grandson of the Emperor Frederick, 
and Louis wished his brother to have nothing to do 
with it ; but Charles was a false and ambitious 
man, though he pretended to be as religious as 
Louis ; and with an army of Provencals he set out 
and gained the kingdom we now call Naples and 
Sicily. The young heir Conradin set off to try 
to regain his inheritance, but Charles defied him 
in battle, made him prisoner, and put him to death 
on the scaffold. 

Louis had always intended to make another cru- 
sade, and Charles promised to join him in it, as 
well as Edward of England. All the North of 
Africa was held by the Moors, who were Mahom- 
etans ; but Louis had had letters that made him 
think that there was a chance of converting the 
Dey of Tunis to the Christian faith, and his brother 



172 Young Folks' History of France, 

Charles wished to show them the crusading armj 
in hopes of alarming them, and getting powel 
there. So Louis, with his armj', landed in the Bay 
of Tunis, and encamped in the plains of Old 
Carthage to wait for King Charles and Edward of 
England ; but the Moors were foes instead of 
friends. It was very hot and unwholesome, and 
deadly sickness broke out. The good king went 
about from one tent to another, comforting and 
helping the sick, but he was soon laid low himself. 
He lay repeating Psalms, and dictating a beautiful 
letter of advice to his daughter, as he grew worse 
and Avorse ; and at last, with the words, " O Jeru- 
salem, Jerusalem ! " on his tongue, he died in the 
year 1270, nor has there ever been such a king in 
France again, and few in any other country. 
Charles of Sicily and Edward of England came 
three days later ; and as soon as they could get 
together the poor, broken, sad and sick army, they 
sailed for Sicily, taking with them the poor young 
king, Philip, who was very ill himself, and could 
not go on with the crusade, so that Edward was 
obliged to go alone, as we all know. Louis and 
his youngest son, who had died a day or two before 
him, were buried together at St. Denys, and he 
has ever since borne the well-deserved title of saint. 





DEATH OF LOUIS. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

PHILIP ni., THE HARDY ; AND PHILIP lY., THE FAIR. 

1271—1284—1814. 

ST. LOUIS left three sons. The second, Rob- 
ert, Count of Clermont, must be remembered, 
because three hundred years later his descendants, 
the House of Bourbon, came to the throne of 
France. The eldest son, Philip HI., was a man 
who left very little mark, though lie reigned thir- 
teen years. The most remarkable thing that hap- 
pened in his time was a great rising against his 
uncle, Charles of Anjou, in Sicily. The French 
and Provencal knights he had brought with him 
were proud, and rude in their behavior to the peo- 
ple of the country, and oppressed them heavily. 
At last, on Easter Monday of 1282, as the people 
of Palermo were on their way to hear vespers, all 

in holiday attire, a French soldier was rude to a 

175 



176 Young Folks' History of France, 

Sicilian girl, and a fight broke ont, which ended in 
the killing of all the Frenchmen in the island ex- 
cept one, who had been more kind and gentle than 
the rest. This was called the Sicilian Vespers. 
The Sicilians then sent to offer the crown to Pedro, 
King of Aragon; the nearest kinsman of their old 
line. The Pope was so angry with him for accept- 
ing it as to declare his own kingdom forfeited, and 
to send Philip of France to take it from him. But 
soon after the French army had advanced into 
Aragon, sickness broke out among them, the king 
himself caught it, and died in the jqq.t 1284 ; and 
Pedro of Aragon gained the island of Sicily and 
kept it, though Charles of Anjou and his sons 
reigned on in Naples on the mainland. 

Philip IV., called Le Bel^ or the Fair, was only 
seventeen years old when he came to the crown ; 
but he was as clever and cunning as his uncle, 
Charles of Anjou, or his great grandfather Philip 
Augustus, and his great object was to increase the 
power of the crown by any means he could. He 
had not to deal with an English king like John ; 
but Edward I. was so much more anxious to make 
one kingdom of Great Britain than to be powerful 
in France, that he took little concern for his French 
duchies. So when Philip IV. picked a quarrel and 



Fhilip in.. The Hardy, 177 

seized Guyenne, Edward would not draw off his 
men from Scotland to fight for it, but made a peace 
which only left hmi Gascony, and sealed it by him- 
self marrying Philip^s sister Margaret, and be- 
trothed his son Edward to Philip's little daughter 
Isabel. It was very wrong — almost the worst 
action of the great king's life — for young Edward 
was already betrothed to the young daughter of 
the poor Count of Flanders, Guy Dampierre, whom 
Philip was cruelly oppressing. When England 
thus forsook their cause, Philip made the count 
prisoner, and so kept him all the rest of his life. 
Nothing but misery came of the marriage. 

But the most remarkable part of the history of 
Philip TV. is what concerns the Church and the 
Popes. For the last two hundred years the Popes 
had been growing more and more powerful, and 
ruling over kings and princes — sometimes rebuk- 
ing them manfully for their crimes, but too often 
only interfering with what disturbed the worldly 
power of the Church. Now Philip was a man of 
evil life, and was, besides, very hard and grasping 
in requiring money from the clergy. The Pope, 
Boniface VIII., was an old man, but full of fiery 
vehemence; and he sent a letter of reprimand, 



17 3 Young Folhs^ History of France, 

bidding the king release the Count of Flanders, 
make peace, and exact no more from the clergy. 

Philip was very angry, and the two went on writing 
letters that made matters worse, until the Pope 
threatened to depose the king ; and Philip sent off 
to Anagni, where the Pope generally lived, a French 
knight, named Nogaret, and an Italian called 
Sciarra Colonna, who had quarrelled with the Pope 
and fled to France. They rode into Anagni, cry- 
ing, " Long live the King of France ! death to 
Boniface ! " at the head of a troop of worthless 
fellows who had gathered round them. The people 
of Anagni were so shocked that they never moved, 
and the men went on to the church, where they 
found the Pope, a grand old man of eighty-six; 
seated calmly by the altar in his robes, with his 
tiara on his head. They rushed up to him, insult- 
ing liim and striking him on the cheeks ; indeed, 
Colonna would have killed him on the spot but for 
Nogaret. They dragged him out of the church, 
and kept him prisoner three days ; but after that, 
the townspeople recovered from their fright, rose, 
rescued him, and conducted him safely to Pome ; 
but what he had gone through had been too much 
for him, and a few mornings later he was found 




.'««-^SNA SraiKINO TUE POPE. 



Philip IV., The Fair. 181 

lying quite dead, tlie head of liis stick at his lips, 
gnawed and covered witli foam, and his white hair 
stained with blood, as if in a fit of terror he had 
dashed his head against the wall. This piteous 
death was in the year 1303. 

Another Pope was chosen ; but as soon as Philip 
found that the new one was determined to control 
him, he caused him to be poisoned, and then deter- 
mined to get the future one into his hands. There 
were a good many French cardinals who would, 
he knew, vote for any one he chose ; and meeting 
in secret the Archbishop of Bordeaux, the king 
told him he should have their votes on six condi- 
tions. Five of these related to the making up of 
the old quarrel with Boniface ; the sixth Philip 
would not tell then, but the archbishop swore it 
should be fulfilled ; and the king then brought 
about his election as Pope, when he took the name 
of Clement V. 

To everyone's surprise, he chose to be crowned 
at Lyons instead of Rome, and then took up his 
abode at Avignon, in Provence, which, though it 
belonged to the empire, was so much in France as 
to be entirely in the king's power. As long as the 
Popes remained at Avignon, they were nothing 
but tools to the kings of France ; and this really 



182 Young Folks' History of France, 

seems to have been the greatest misfortune that 
happened to France. The power of the Popes was 
stretched much too far, and their interference in 
temporal matters was often wrong, bilt it was the 
only authority that ever kept kings and princes in 
order; and when the Popes lived on French 
ground, and were afraid to reprove the lords of the 
country, there was nothing to hinder the evil ways 
of either kings and nobles, and they went on from 
bad to worse, unrestrained by the Church, the wit- 
ness of truth. 

Philip the Fair was a very greedy man, always 
seeking after money, and oppressing his people 
heavily to obtain it. Now, you remember that two 
orders of soldier monks had been set up to defend 
the Holy Sepulchre. Soon after St. Louis' last 
crusade. Acre, the last spot that belonged to the 
Christians, had been taken from them. The 
Knights Hospitallers had settled in the island of 
Rhodes, hoping some day to return ; but the 
Knights Templars had gone to the houses in Europe, 
where they used to train up young men to arms. 
They were rich in lands, and, having nothing to do, 
were proud and insolent. And Philip cast his 
eyes on their great wealth, and told the Pope that 
his sixth condition was that all the Templars should 



Philip IV., The Fair. 183 

oe destroyed. Most of them were living in France, 
but the others were invited to hold a great chapter 
there ; and when almost all were come, horrible 
accusations were made — that they were really 
heathen, that no one came into their order without 
being made to renounce his baptism and trample on 
the Cross, that they murdered little children, and 
other frightful stories ; and then five hundred and 
two were imprisoned by the Inquisition, and 
seventy-two tortured to make them confess. 

Most of them were brave and denied it all ; but 
there were a few who could not bear the pain, and 
said whatever was put into their mouths. Then, 
after being kept in prison two years, the rest were 
sentenced, brought out in parties of fifty and 
burnt to death, while the Pope declared the order 
dissolved, and gave the king all his possessions. 
This was in 1311. The Grand Master, James de 
Molay, was kept in prison three years longer, but 
then was brought out at Paris, and burnt before 
the king's palace garden. He was a fine old white- 
bearded man ; and as he stood there in the fire, he 
called on Clement, Pope of Kome, and Philip, 
King of France, to appear before the judgment 
seat of God — the first within forty da3S, the sec- 



184 Young Folks' History of France. 

Olid within a year — to answer for their nsage of 
him and his knights. 

Before the fortieth day, Clement Y. actually 
died ; and before the year was out, Philip the Fair 
sank away from consumption, and died in his forty- 
sixth year, in the year 1314, leaving the most hate- 
ful name in French history. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

LOUIS X., HUTIN, 1314—1316. 

PHILIP v., LE LONG, 1310—1322 

CHARLES lY., LE BEL, 1322. 

PHILIP YI 1350. 

PHILIP the Fair left three sons — Louis, Philip, 
and Charles — and one daughter, Isabel, who 
was married to Edward of England. Louis X. 
was called by the nickname of Hutin, which is 
said to mean the Peevish or Ill-tempered. He was 
married to the young Queen of Navarre, in her 
own right ; but he only reigned two years, and his 
only son lived but five days. The French barons 
declared it was against the old law of the Salic 
Franks that their kingdom should fall to a woman, 
so Louis's little daughter Joan was only to be Queen 
of Navarre, while his brother, Philip V. (Le Long, 
or the Tall), became king. He must have been as 
cruel as his father, for there rose up in his time a 

185 



186 Young FoWs History of France, 

foolish story that the fountains of water bad been 
poisoned by the lepers and the Jews, whereupon 
he gave orders that they should suffer for it. They 
were killed on the spot, or else burnt at the stake 
throughout France, while the king and his nobles 
seized the treasures of the Jews ; but in the midst 
the king died, at only thirty years old, in the year 
1322, leaving only four girls ; so that his brother, 
Charles IV., reigned after him. It was during the 
six years that Charles was on the throne that his 
sister Isabel came from England with complaints of 
lier husband, Edward II., and succeeded in collect- 
ing the knights, who helped her to dethrone him, 
after which he v/as brought to a miserable end in 
prison. 

Every one believed that the sins of the wicked 
father had been visited on these three sons — dying 
young, and without heirs ; and the French were 
glad when Charles the Fair died, in 1328, that their 
kingdom should go to Philip YI., Count of Valois, 
the son of the younger brother of Philip IV., 
Charles of Valois. 

But Edward III. of England called himself the 
right heir, declaring himself nearer in blood to his 
uncle, Charles IV., than Philip of Valois, their first 
cousin, could be. This was true ; but, then, if all 



Philip VI. 189 

the daughters of the last three kings were shut out 
from reigning, it was not reasonable that he should 
pretend to a right through their aunt. At first, 
though he put his claim forward, he seems to have 
been willing to let it sleep, for he appeared before 
the French king in the Cathedral at Amiens, and 
did homage for the duchy of Aquitaine ; but there 
was a certain Robert of Artois, who had been 
deprived of what he thought his lawful inheritance, 
and who was suspected of wanting to bring about 
Philip's death by sorcery. He was said to have 
made a waxen image of the king and stuck it full 
of pins and set it before the fire, expecting that as 
the wax melted, so Philip would perish away and 
die. Philip believed the story, and Robert was 
obliged to fly to England, where, out of hatred and 
revenge, he stirred up the king to put forward his 
claim, and to begin the war with France which is 
sometimes called the Hundred Years' War. The 
great cities in Flanders, where cloth was woven, 
were friendly to the English, because in that peace- 
able country the sheep that bore the wool could 
feed quietly, and their supplies of material came 
from thence. Besides, Philip had tried to make 
them accept a count whom they hated, so they 
drove him away, and invited Edward to Ghent. 



190 Young FolW History of France, 

The French fleet tried to meet and stop him, bat 
their ships were defeated and sunk, with great loss 
of men, off Sluys, in the year 1340. 

Not long after, there was a great dispute about 

the dukedom of Brittany, which was claimed by the 

daughter of the elder brother, and by the younger 

brother of the late duke. The niece had married 

Charles de Blois ; the uncle was the Count de 

Montfort. The King of France took the part of 

the niece, the King of England that of Montfort. 

Before long, Montfort was made prisoner and sent 

to Paris ; but his wife, the brave Joan, defended. 

his cause as well as any knight of them all. She 

shut herself up in Hennebonne, and held out the 

town while De Blois besieged her ; and when the 

townsmen began to lose heart, and say they must 

surrender, she bade them look out to the sea ; and 

there was the English fleet coming to their aid. 

Sir Walter Manny commanded the troops it 

brought, and the first thing he did was to lead a 

party to sally out and burn the French machines 

for battering the town. When they came back, 

Countess Joan came to meet them, and kissed all 

the knights, like a right valiant lady that she was, 

says the old chronicler Froissart, who has left us a 

charming history of these times. The war in Brit- 




'bAPE THEM T.OOK Ol'T AT THK SEA 



Philip VL 193 

tany lasted twenty-four years altogether. Montfort 
made his escape from prison, but he died very soon 
after he reached home ; and his widow sent her 
little son to be bred up in Edward's court in Eng- 
land, while she took care of his cause at home. 
The English were ver}' much hated and disliked in 
Brittany, and seem to have been ver}^ fierce and 
rough with the people, whose language they did 
not understand ; and some of the knights who were 
the greatest foes of all to the English grew up in 
Brittany, more especially Bertrand du Guesclin 
and Oliver de Clisson, but they were as yet boys. 
Edward made his greatest attack on France in 
the year 1346. Philip had gathered all the very 
best of his kingdom to meet him. The knights of 
France were nearly as strong as the knights of 
England, but there was one great difference be- 
tween the two armies, and that arose from the 
harshness of the counts and barons. Every one 
below them was a poor, miserable serf (unless he 
lived in a town), and had never handled arms. 
Now, in England there were farmers and stout 
peasants, who used to practice shooting with the 
bow once a week. So there were always sturdy 
English archers to fight, and the French had 
nothing of the same kind to meet them, and tried 



194 Young FolJcs^ History of France, 

hiring men from Genoa. The battle was fought at 
Cregy, near Ponthieu ; and when it was to begin 
by each troop of archers shooting a flight of arrows 
at one another, it turned out that a shower of rain 
which had just fallen had slackened the bow-strings 
of the Genoese archers; but the Englishmen had 
their bows safe in leathern cases, and their strings 
were in full order, so the arrows galled the French 
knights, and a charge was ordered to cut them 
down. But full iii the way stood the poor Genoese, 
fumbling to tighten their strings ; and the knights 
were so angry at being hindered, that they began 
cutting them down right and left, thus spending 
their strength against their own army, so that it 
was no wonder that they were beaten and put to 
flight. King Philip himself had to ride as fast as 
he could from the battle-field ; and coming to a 
castle just as night set in, he blew his horn at the 
gates, and when the warder called out to know who 
was there, he answered, " Open, open ! it is the 
fortune of France ! " 

The English went on to besiege and take the city 
of Calais ; and in Brittany Charles de Blois was 
defeated and made prisoner ; and there was the 
further misfortune of a horrible plagu^, called the 
black death, raging all through France. Fiv^ 



PhUip FT. 19.^ 

hundred people a-day died in the great hospital 
callecl the Hotel Dieu, at Paris, and it was bad also 
in England ; so that both kings were glad to have 
a truce, and rest for a few years, though Edward 
still called himself King of France, and the dispute 
was far from settled. Philip paid his men by causing 
the nation to pay a tax upon salt, while Edward's 
chief tax was on wool ; so while Philip called his 
rival the wool merchant, Edward said that the 

* 

Valois did indeed reign by the Salic law (s«Z being 
the Latin for salt.) 

The Counts of the Yiennois, in 4;he South of 
France, used to be called Counts Dauphin, because 
there was a dolphin in their coat of arms. The 
Dauphin Humbert, having neither children nor 
brothers, bequeathed his county to the king's eldest 
grandson, Charles, on condition that it should 
always be kept separate from the Crown lands. 
Ever since that time the eldest son of the King of 
France has always been called the Dauphin. 

A year later Philip died, in the year 1350, after 
a reign that had been little more than one long war. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

JOHN. 

1350—1364. 

IF Philip VI. had a reign which was all one war, 
it was much the same with his son John, who 
thought himself a brave and honorable knight, 
though he often did evil and cruel actions. 

The little kingdom of Navarre, in the Pyrenees, 
had passed from the daughter of Louis Hutin to 
her son, Charles, called the Bad. In right of his 
father, the Count D'Evreux, he was a French noble, 
and he wanted to hold the highest office a noble 
could hold — namely, that of Constable of France. 
The Constable commanded all the armies, and was 
the most mighty person in the realm next to the 
king ; and when John gave the appointment to the 
Lord Charles de la Cerda, Charles the Bad, in his 
rage and disappointment, contrived to poison the 

196 




THIS WAY, FATHER. 



John, 199 

new constable ; and he was also said to have tried 
to poison the Dauphin Charles; and though the 
dose failed to kill, it ruined the young man's health, 
and in the end shortened his life. It was owing to 
the Dauphin that Charles the Bad was seized at 
last. He invited him to dinner, and appeared to be 
very friendl}' ; but in the midst of the feast the 
king appeared witli a band of soldiers, seized the 
King of Navarre, and carried him to prison. It 
was very treacherous ; but the Dauphin Charles, 
young as lie was, was much more cunning than his 
father. 

Charles the Bad was clever, and had many friends 
who were angered by his imprisonment, and went 
over to the cause of the King of -England. Edward, 
the Prince of Wales, who was at Bordeaux, the 
capital of Gascony, took the opportunity of ad- 
vancing into the French dominions, and John as- 
sembled an army to meet and drive him back. 

The battle was fought at Poitiers ; John was 
there, with his sons and his brother, and all his best 
knights, and the battle was long and hotly fought. 
The French did much better than at CrcQy ; but 
the English were too strong for them, though the 
king was as brave as a lion, and struck vehement!}' 
with his battle-axe, his youngest son, Philip, ktep- 



200 Young Folks' History of France. 

mg close to him, and warning him where to strike. 
"This way, father!" or, " That way, father!" 
" To the right ! " " To the left ! " But at last the 
father and son found themselves almost alone, 
with all their men scattered and dispersed, and 
nothing but enemies around. The king had lost 
his helmet, and was slightly wounded, and greatly 
worn out ; so he called to the first squire he saw — 
one Denis de Morbeque — and finding that he was 
a gentleman, surrendered to him. He was brought 
to the Prince of Wales, who treated him with the 
utmost kindness and courtesy, and did his best to 
lighten the pain and humiliation of captivity. 

The Dauphin had fled early in the day, and was 
thought to have been the cause of the loss of the 
battle. Everything fell into a deplorable state. 
The Prince of Wales ruled the old English Gascon 
territory at Bordeaux ; and though there was a 
truce between the two kings, troops of soldiers — 
Free Companions, as they called themselves — 
roamed about, plundering and robbing all over 
France, while the king was a prisoner in England. 
The Dauphin was hated and despised, and had no 
power at all ; and in Paris, a burgher named Stephen 
Marcel was chosen provost, and led all the populace 
to terrify the Government into doing what he 




MURDER OF THE MARSHAL.': 



John. 208 

pleased. The mark of his followers was a hood, 
half red and half blue; and thinking that the 
Dauphin's friends gave him bad advice, Marcel sud- 
denly rushed into his presence, at the head of a 
whole troop of Parisians, wearing these colors, and 
demanded, " Will you put an end to the troubles, 
and provide for the defence of the kingdom ? " 
'' That is not ni}^ part," said Charles, " but that of 
those who receive the money of the taxes." Mar- 
cel made a sign, and his followers murdered the two 
noblemen who stood beside the Dauphin. The 
prince, in terror, fell on his knees and begged for 
his life ; and Marcel thrust one of the red and blue 
hoods upon his head, and then told him, pointing 
to the two corpses, " I require you, in the iiame of 
the people, to consent to their death, for it is done 
by the will of the people." 

The Dauphin consented ; but he soon made his 
escape, and took up arms against Marcel. Charles 
of Navarre had been released from his prison, and 
was fighting in the South of France ; and Cliarles 
de Blois had been ransomed, and was fighting in 
Brittany; and to add to all these, the peasants, who 
had been always ill-used and trampled down by the 
nobles, began to rise against them. " Bon homme 
Jacques'' had been the nickname given them by the 



204 Young Follies' History of France. 

nobles, and hence this rebellion was called the 
Jacquerie, and a terrible one it was ; for the peas- 
ants were almost savages, and whenever they could 
surprise a castle, they murdered every one in it. 
They set up a king from among them, and soon 
one hundred thousand had arisen in Picardy and 
Champagne ; but they were armed only with scythes 
and axes, and the nobles soon put them down and 
then were just as brutal themselves in their revenge. 
The " King of the Jacques " was crowned with a 
red-hot tripod, and hung ; and the poor wretches 
were hunted down like wild beasts, and slaughtered 
everywhere, and nothing was done to lessen the 
misery that made them rebel. 

The Dauphin beseiged Paris, and Marcel, find- 
ing he could not hold out, invited the King of 
Navarre to help him ; but another magistrate, who 
hated Charles the Bad, contrived to attack Marcel 
as he was changing the guard, killed him and six of 
his friends and brought him back to Paris. This 
was only the first of the many fierce and tumult- 
uous outbreaks that have stained the fair city of 
Paris with blood. 

King John was so anxious to return that he prom- 
ised to give up to Edward all that Henry 11. and 
Cceur de Lion had held ; but the Dauphin and the 









mf" 




THK ATTACK OX MARCEL, 



John. 207 

States-General did not choose to confirm Lis pro- 
posal, thinking it better to leave him in prison, 
than to weaken the kingdom so much. So Edward 
mvaded France again, and marched almost up to 
Paris, intending to fight another battle ; but the 
Dauphin had made up his mind never to fight a 
a battle with the English again ; and between the 
war and the Jacquerie, the whole country was bare 
of inhabitants, cattle, or crops. The English army 
was almost starved, and a frightful tempest did it 
much damage ; so that Edward consented to make 
peace and set John free, on condition that his two 
sons should be given up as hostages for the pay- 
ment of a great ransom, and a large part of Aqui- 
taine ceded to England. 

King John returned ; but he found the kingdom 
m such a dreadful state of misery and povert}^ that 
he did not collect mone}^ for the ransom, nor would 
tiis sons remain as pledges for it. They were al- 
lowed to live at Calais, and make short journeys 
into France ; but they would not submit to this, 
^nd at last stayed away altogether. John was much 
.grieved and ashamed, and said the only thing he 
could do was to return and give himself up as a 
prisoner, since he could not fulfil the conditions of 



208 Young Folks' History of France, 

his release. When he was entreated to remam at 
home, he said, " Where should honor find a refuge 
if not in the breasts of kings ? " and accordingly 
he went back to London, where he was welcomed 
as a friend by King Edward, and there he died in 
the year 1364. He left four sons — the Dauphin 
Charles ; Louis, the Duke of Anjou ; John, Duke 
of Berry ; and Philip, who had married the heiress 
of Burgundy, and was made duke of that province^ 



CHAPTER XX. 

CHARLES V. 
1364—1380. 

CHARLES v., in spite of his troubles as Dau- 
phin, was a much abler man than his father 
John ; and he had seen the best way to treat the 
English enemy — namely, not to fight them, but to 
starve them out. 

The French knights could beat anyone except 
the English ; and just now there professed to be 
peace with Edward III., but with Charles the Bad 
of Navarre there was still war, until a battle was 
fought at Cocherel, between the French, under the 
brave Breton knight, Bertrand du Guesclin, and 
the Navarrese, under the great friend of the Black 
Prince, the brave Gascon knight, the Captal de 
^ Buch. Du Guesclin gained a great victory, and 
made the Captal prisoner, and from that time no 

209 



210 Young Folks' History of France. 

French knight was equal to him in fame. Thus 
Charles the Bad had to make peace. 

The young De Montfort, wl o had been brought 
up in England, was by this time old enough to try 
to fight for Brittany ; and though the kings were 
at peace, the Prince of Wales lent him a troop of 
English, commanded by the best captain in all 
Europe, Sir John Chandos ; and at the battle of 
Auray, Charles de Blois, who had so long striven 
to win the duchy, was killed, and Du Guesclin was 
made prisoner. After this, the king accepted Mont- 
fort as Duke of Brittany, and this war was like- 
wise over. 

But after so many years of fighting, there were 
a great many men who knew and cared for nothing 
else. They could not be quiet. All they wanted 
was a horse and armor, and some one to hire them 
to fight, let them gain plunder, and take prisoners 
to but to ransom. They called themselves Free 
Companions, or Free Tiances, and used to get some 
skilful warrior to be their leader. When the wars 
were over and nobody wanted to hire them, they 
would take possession of some castle, and live by 
plundering the travellers in the country round, so 
that they were the most dreadful plague imaginable. 

King Charles asked Du Guesclin how to get rid 



Claries V. 211 

of tliera, and Bertrand thought of apian. Castille, 

in Spain, had just then one of the wickedest kings 

.r.n 
who ever lived, Petor the Cruel, who murdered his 

wife (a cousin of Charles), and killed most of his 
mlf-brothers, besides many other persons. One of 
these brothers, Henry of Trastamere, managed to 
escape, and came to France to beg for help ; and 
Du Guesclin told the king that it would be an ex- 
cellent way to get rid of the Free Companions to 
draw them off into Spain. Charles consented, and 
Du Guesclin invited their leaders to meet him; 
and when they found he would lead them, they all 
consented, making sure of plenty of fighting and 
plundering. As they rode past Avignon, they 
frightened the Pope into giving them a large con- 
tribution ; and as soon as they entered Castille, 
Peter the Cruel fled away, and Henry was crowned 
king. He kept Du Guesclin in his service, but sent 
all the others back to France. 

However, Peter came to Bordeaux, and showed 
himself to the Black Prince as an ill-used, dis- 
tressed king ; and Edward took up his cause, and 
undertook to set him on the throne again. All the 
Free Companions, who were coming back fron\ 
Spain, no sooner heard that the Prince was going 



212 Young Folks' History of France. 

there, than they took service with him to restore 
the very king they had just dethroned. A great 
battle was fought at Navareta, in which the Prince 
was victorious. Du Guesclin was made prisoner, 
and Henry of Trastamere fled for his Hfe. Pedro 
was placed on the throne once more ; but he kept 
none of his promises to the English, and they soon 
perceived what a horribly cruel and wicked wretch 
he was. Sickness broke out among them, and they 
went back to Bordeaux, leaving him to his fate. 
Every one in France was most anxious to have Du 
Guesclin free again, and leven the maidens of Brit- 
tany are said to have spun day and night to earn 
money for his ransom. As soon as the sum was 
raised and he was at liberty, he returned to Spain 
with Henry, and they chased Pedro into the castle 
of Montiel, whence he came out in the night and 
attempted to murder his brother, but in the struggle 
was himself killed, to the great relief of all con- 
cerned with him. 

The Black Prince was, in the meantime, ill at 
Bordeaux, and in trouble how to pay the Free 
Companions, since Pedro had not given him the 
promised sum. He was obliged to tax his Saxon 
subjects, and this made them angry. They ap- 



Charles V. 213 

pealed to Charles V., who was their suzerain, and 
he summoned the prince to appear tit Paris and 
answer their complaint. 

Edward said he should only come with his hel- 
met on his head and sixty thousand men behind 
him, and so the war began again ; but the Prince 
was out of health, and could not fight as he used 
to do, and the French king forbade his captains 
even to give battle, even Du Guesclin, whom he 
made Constable of France, and who grumbled at 
being forbidden. 

The war was carried on by sieges of castles, 
which, one by one, fell into French hands for want 
of means on the part of the English prince, to re- 
lieve them. 

Stung and embittered, at last he roused himself ; 
and though he could no longer mount his horse, he 
went in a litter to besiege the city of Limoges, and 
when it was taken, he sought his revenge in a ter- 
rible massacre of all the inhabitants. This, his 
saddest expedition, was his last. He went back to 
England and never recovered. Governors were 
sent to Bordeaux ; but they could do little against 
the continually advancing French, and at last 
nothing 'A France was left to Edward but the 
province of Gascony and the city of Calais, A 



214 Young Folks' History of France, 

truce was made ; and before the end of it both the 
great Edwards were dead, and Richard II. on the 
throne, under the regency of his uncles, who tried 
to carry on the war, but still with no better fortune. 

It was Avhile besieging a little castle, named 
Chateau Randon, that tlic brave Du Guesclin fell 
sick of a fever and died. The English captain had 
promised to surrender if help did not come to him 
within a certain time ; and when he heard that the 
great constable was dead, he would not yield to 
any one else, but caused himself to be led to the 
tent of the dead man, on whose breast he laid down 
the ke^^s of the castle. The king made Du Gues- 
clin's friend, Oliver de Clisson, Constable in his 
stead. He was a Breton too, a brave knight, and 
a skilful leader ; but his brother had been made 
prisoner b}' the English, and hung, and he had 
made the savage vow that he would never spare the 
life of an Englishman, so that he was called the 
Butcher ; and it was a dreadful thing to fall into his 
hands. 

The king himself did not live much longer. He 
had never entirely shaken off the effects of the 
poison his bad namesake had given him, and knew 
he should die young. He carefully instructed his 
queen, Joan de Bourbon, how to protect his two 



Charles V. 217 

young sons, Charles and Louis ; but to his great 
grief she died first, and he was obliged to leave the 
boys to the care of their uncles, when he died, on 
the 16th of September, 1380, after a reign of so 
much success that he is commonly known as Charles 
the Wise. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

CHAKLES VI. 
1380—1396. 

IT was an evil hour for poor young Charles YI., 
when, at twelve years old, he was left an orphan 
king. His uncles — the Dukes of Anjou, Berri, 
and Burgundy (his father's brothers), quarrelled 
about the government, and he Avas allowed to grow 
up little heeded or restrained, and with all his pas- 
sions unchecked. 

The Church was in a most unsettled state. The 
Popes, while living at Avignon, were at the beck 
of the French kings, and this could not be borne 
by the otlier lands of the Western Church. Be- 
sides, they and their cardinals had not enough to do 
in this little town, and idleness led to all kinds of 
wickedness, while their proper abode at Rome was 

left to wild tumults and confusion. So at last, in 

213 



Charles VI. 219 

tlie year 1376, Pope Gregor}^ XI. had decided on 
going back to Rome, though Charles V. and all the 
cardinals of French birth did all they could to pre- 
vent him. He died two years after he came there ; 
and then all the cardinals who wanted to stay in 
Italy chose one Pope, and all the cardinals who 
wished to live at Avignon chose another, and went 
back with him. So there were two Popes, the real 
Pope and the anti-Pope, and this made a grievous 
division, which is knov/n as the. Great Schism. 
The French and all their friends held by the Pope 
at Avignon, the English and all theirs by the Pope 
at Rome ; and things grew worse than ever, for 
both Popes were very poor and wanted as much 
money as they could ; and they were also afraid to 
offend either kings or bishops, for fear they should 
leave their party, and so sin and wickedness went 
on unchecked. 

One of the proudest nobles was Louis, Count of 
Flanders. He had many rich cities in his county, 
where almost all the best cloth, linen, and lace of 
the time was made, and where the burghers were 
rich and resolute. There was always much dislike 
and distrust between the counts and the cities ; 
and Louis was so severe, that at last the men of 
Ghent rose against him and shut their gates, choos- 



220 Young Folks' History of France. 

ing as their leader Philip von Artevelde, the son of 
the brewer, Jacob von Artevelde, who had been a 
friend of Edward III. Artevelde led them out to 
fight with the count, gained a great victory, and 
hunted him into the city of Bruges. There he 
was as much hated as he was in Ghent ; all the 
people in the streets rose up against him, and no- 
body would give him shelter, till at last he found 
himself in the house of a poor widow who had 
sometimes received alms at his gate. He begged 
her to hide him, and she bade him creep under the 
bed, where her three little children were lying 
asleep. He had only just time to do so, when his 
enemies burst open the door, declaring he had gone 
in there ; but the widow bade them look in, and 
when they saw only the bed full of children, they 
thought he could not be there, and went away. 

In the morning he managed to get out of the city 
and escaped to Paris where he begged the king and 
his uncles to come to his help. He had but one 
daughter, who was to marry the son of the Duke 
of Burgundy ; so it was their interest to bring the 
Flemish towns to obedience, and the young king 
was very eager to make his first campaign. All the 
revolted burghers came out to battle with the 
knights and gentlemen, but they could not make 



Charles VI. 221 

head against such a well-tried old leader as the 
Constable de Clisson, though they fought desper- 
ately ; and at the battle of Rosbecque twenty-six 
thousand men were killed, and Philip von Arte* 
velde was trampled to death in the flight. 

The young king loved and admired the Constable 
de Clisson more than any one else ; but the old 
man was much hated by many others for his harsh- 
ness and cruelty ; and one night in the streets of 
Paris, he was set upon by some murderers, who 
wounded him badly, and he was only saved by fall- 
ing against a house door, which gave way with his 
weight, so that he fell into a dark passage, where 
his enemies left him for dead, and fled away into 
Brittany. The king demanded that they should be 
sent back to be put to death, but the Duke of Brit- 
tany, who hated Clisson, would not give them up. 
Charles made sure that the duke had set them on, 
and in a great rage declared he would lay all Brit- 
tany waste. He collected his troops and set out, 
but a strange thing happened as he was riding- 
through the forest of Mans, on a burning hot sum- 
mer day. A man, probabl}" mad, rushed out from 
the bushes, caught his bridle, and cried, " Ride no 
further, king ; thou art betrayed I " The man was 
drawn away ; but presently after, as they rode on, 



222 Young Folks'^ History of France, 

a page who had charge of the kmg's lance fell 
asleep on horseback, and let the point ring against 
the helmet of the man in front. This must have 
made the king fancy the treason had begun, and 
becoming frantic that moment, he drew his sword 
and rushed upon his followers, crying, " Down with 
the traitors ! " He killed four, but the others saved 
themselves by pretending to fall before the stroke ; 
and at last, as his strength became spent, a tall, 
strong knight sprang on his horse behind him and 
overpowered him. He was carried back to Mans, 
where he had a brain fever ; but he recovered and 
was for some time in perfect health, governing, not 
perhaps well, but with kind intentions. He married 
Isabel of Bavaria ; and had she taken better care 
of him, his life would have been far happier ; but 
she was a dull, and selfish woman, who cared more 
for good eating and amusement than for her hus- 
band and children, whom she neglected greatly. 

At a great festival, the king and five of his nobles 
dressed themselves up as wild men of the woods, 
in close garments, covered with pitch, with long 
loose flakes of tow, hanging to them to represent 
hair, and green boughs round their heads and waists. 
Chained together, they danced in among the ladies, 
who were to guess who they were. The king's 






^>^''# 



'^THOU ART BETRAYED I" 



Charles VL 225 

brother (the Duke of Orleans) held a torch so near 
one of them, the better to see who it was, that he 
set fire to the tow, and the flames spread to the 
whole party. Four were burnt to death, one saved 
himself by breaking the chain and leaping into a 
tub of water, aud the king himself was preserved 
by the Duchess of Berri, who threw her mantle 
over him ; but the shock had been so great that his 
insanity came on again, and he was never sensible 
for long together through the rest of his life. But 
he still was supposed to rule France, and so the 
power was in the hands of whoever had possession 
of him, and this at first was his uncle Philip, Duke 
of Burgundy. 

Still, as there was peace with England, the 
knights thought of crusades. Indeed, the Turks, 
under their great leader Bajazet, were beginning to 
make their way into Europe ; and the eldest son of 
the Duke of Burgundy, John the Fearless, set out 
Avith a party of French knights to succor the Hun- 
garians against them. They came just as peace 
had been sworn to on either side ; but it seemed 
such a pity that their aid should be wasted, that 
the Hungarians broke their word, and attacked the 
Turks. But their breach of faith met a due reward , 
for the whole army was defeated and butchei-ed, 



226 Young Folks' History of France, 

and John himself, with twenty-seven nobles, alone 
lived to be ransomed. 

Afterwards, Marshal Boucicault led another 
i-roop to help the Emperor of Constantinople, 
Falseologos, and brought him home to France to 
visit the king, and ask further aid from the princes 
of Europe. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

BURGUNDIANS AND ARMAGNACS. 
1415—1422. 

NOTHING could be more sad than the state of 
France under the mad king. As long as his 
uncle (the Duke of Burgundy) lived, he was not so 
ill cared for, and the country was under some sort 
of government ; but when Duke Philip died, and 
the dukedom passed to his son, John the Fearless, 
there was a perpetual quarrel between this rough 
and violent duke and the king's brother Louis, 
Duke of Orleans. The Duchess of Orleans — a 
gentle Italian lady (Valentina of Milan) — was the 
only person who could calm the poor king in his 
fits of frenzy, and the friends of Burgundy de- 
clared she bewitched him and made him worse. In 
the meantime, Queen Isabel would do nothing but 
amuse herself with the Duke of Orleans, and the 
king and her little children were left without attend- 

227 



228 Young Folks* History of France, 

ants, and often without proper clothes or food. 

The people of Paris hated Orleans, and loved 
the Duke of Burgundy, and this last was resolved 
to get the king into his power. So one night, as 
^ the Duke of Orleans was going home from supper 
with the queen, he was set upon hy murderers and 
killed in the streets of Paris ; and what was even 
more horrible, the Duke of Burgundy caused a 
priest to preach a sermon defending the wicked 
act. The Duchess of Orleans came with her sons 
and knelt at the king's feet, imploring for the mur- 
derer to be punished ; but he could do nothing for 
her, and she went home and died broken hearted. 
Plowever, her son, the young Duke of Orleans, mar- 
ried the daughter of the Count of Armagnac, who 
took up his cause so vehemently, that all the friends 
of the House of Orleans were called Armagnacs, 
and were known by wearing a white scarf over the 
left shoulder, while the Burgundians wore blue 
hoods. 

The king's eldest son, the Dauphin Louis, was 
sixteen years old, and tried to get into power ; but 
he was a foolish, idle youth, whom no one heeded. 
When he heard that the new king, Henry Y., 
meant to invade France, Louis sent him a present 
of a basket of tennis balls, saying they were his 




TFTE yrrinr befork the battle agixoourt. 



Burgundians and Armagnacs. 231 

most fitting weapons, considering his way of life as 
the madcap prince. Henry answered that he hoped 
to return balls from the mouths of cannon against 
Paris ; and it was not long before he actually crossed 
the channel, and laid siege to Harfleur, in Normandy. 
He soon took it, for no aid was sent to it ; and 
he proclaimed himself king of France, like Edward 
in. before him, and proceeded to endeavor to con- 
quer the country. The Dauphin collected an army, 
and marched to intercept him, as he was on the way 
from Harfleur to Calais to obtain fresh supplies. 
The French army greatly outnumbered the English, 
and thought it would be easy to cut them off, see- 
ing them hungry, sick, and worn with a long 
march. But the carelessness, the dissensions, and 
the insubordination of the French army would have 
caused it to be beaten by a far less skilful general 
than Henry Y. ; and though each noble and knight 
was personally valiant, this did little good when 
they were not united. There was an immense 
slaughter at this far-famed battle of Agincourt, and 
many noted prisoners were taken by the English, 
especiall}^ the Duke of Orleans ; and Henry would 
not allow these nobles to be ransomed, but kept 
them in captivity in England, until he should have 
finished winning the kingdom. 



232 Young Folks\ History of France, 

The Dauphin Louis escaped from the battle, but 
died soon after ; his next brother (the Dauphin 
John) did not survive him long ; and the third 
brother (the Dauphin Charles) was entirely under 
the power of the Armagnac party, as well as his 
father and mother. 

But the Count of Armagnac was so insolent that 
qneen Isabel could bear it no longer, and fled to 
the Duke of Burgundy's protection ; and soon after 
the people of Paris rose against the Armagnacs, and 
murdered every one whom they found belonging 
to it. The count himself was horribly gashed, and 
his body was dragged up and down the streets. 
The poor king was in a fit of madness in his palace ; 
the Dauphin was carried away by his friend, Sir 
Tanneguy du Chastel : and for a whole month 
there were nothing but savage murders throughout 
Paris, of all who were supposed to be Armagnacs, 
until the queen and the Duke of Burgundy ar- 
rived, and restored something like order. 

No one, of course, had leisure to do anything to 
relieve Rouen, which Henry V. was besieging, and 
took in spite of the citizens holding out bravely. 
The queen and duke determined to make peace 
with him, and met him at a meadow near Pontoise, 
where beautiful embroidered tents were pitched ; 




MtrRT>KR OF THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY. 



Burgundians and Armaynacs. 235 

and they held a conference, in which Henry asked 
in marriage Catherine, the youngest daughter of 
Charles and Isabel, with the whole of the provinces 
that had once belonged to the English kings as her 
dowry — Normandy, Aquitaine, and all. If this 
were refused, he would conquer the whole kingdom 
for himself. 

No promises were absolutely made. The Duk(^ 
of Burgundy could not make up his mind to give 
up so large a portion of his native realm, and be- 
gan to consider of going over to the Dauphin and 
helping him to defend himself. A meeting was 
arranged for the duke and Dauphin on the bridge 
of Montereau ; but Tanneguy du Chaste 1 and the 
prince's other friends had no intention of letting 
the bo}' get into the power of the great duke, and 
during the conference they treacherously stabbed 
John the Fearless to. the heart. His murder of the 
Duke of Orleans was thus visited upon him, but 
the crime Avas dreadful in those who committed it. 
The consequence was that his son Philip, called the 
Good, went entbely over to the English ; and be- 
fore long Henry V. was married to Catherine, and 
was to be Regent of France as long as poor Charles 
lived, and after that, king, the Dauphin being dis- 
inherited as a murderer. 



286 Young Folks^ History of France^ 

All the North of France had been conquered by 
the English, and the Dauphin and his friends had 
retired to the South. Thence they sent to the 
Scots to ask for help, and many brave Scotsmen 
came, glad of a chance of fighting with the English. 
Henry had gone home to England to take his bride, 
and had left his brother, the Duke of Clarence, in 
command, when, as the English were marching into 
Aiijou, the . Scots fell on them at Beauje and 
defeated them, killing the Duke of Clarence. 

Henry came back in haste, and again carried all 
before him. He took the town of Meaux, where a 
horrible robber lived, cruelly preying on the inhab- 
itants of Paris ; but the siege lasted the whole 
winter. Henry caught cold there, and never was 
well again, though he kept his Whitsuntide at Paris 
with great state. Soon after, he set out for another 
campaign, but he became so ill on the journey that 
he had to be carried back to Vincennes, and there 
died. No one of all his own children had ever been 
so good to poor King Charles as Henry had been, 
and the loss at last broke his heart. He wept and 
wailed constantly for his good son Henry, pined 
away, and died only three months later, in October, 
1422, after thirty years of madness. 



:^%3^ ^- 




CHAPTER XXIII. 



CHARLES Vn. 



1422—1461. 



THOUGH all history counts the reign of Charles 
VII. as beginning from the death of his un- 
happy father, yet it was really the infant Henry, 
son of his sister Catherine and of Henry V. of 
England, who was proclaimed King of France over 

the grave in which Charles VI. was buried, and 

- 237 



238 Young Folks^ History of France. 

who was acknowledged throughout France, as far 
as Loire, while his uncle, the Duke of Bedford, 
acted as Regent. 

Charles YIT. was proclaimed king by the Armag- 
nacs, but most people called him the Dauphin, and 
many termed him the King of Bourges, for he lived 
in that little town, never seeming to trouble himself 
about the state of his kingdom, but only thinking 
how to amuse himself from day to day, and some- 
times even talking of fleeing to Scotland, and 
leaving everything to the English. 

Bedford, in the meantime, determined to push on 
the work of conquest, and sent the Earl of Salis- 
bury to lay siege to Orleans ; but the place was 
bravely defended, and Salisbury was killed by a 
shot in the throat while looking on at the works. 
Soon after, as some stores were being sent to the 
English, a party of French nobles resolved to stop 
them, and fell upon the wagons. The English came 
out to defend them, and there was a general battle, 
which is known as the Battle of Herrings, because 
the provisions chiefly consisted of salt fish, intended 
to be eaten in Lent. 

The siege lasted on, but a wonderful aid came to 
the French. In the summer of 1425 a young girl, 
named Joan d'Arc, as she was in her father's little 



Charles VTT. 239 

garden, thought she was called by the Angel St. 
Michael, and the Virgin Saints, Catherine and Mar- 
garet, to deliver her country and lead the king to 
be crowned at Rheims. At first no one would be- 
lieve her, but she was so earnest that at last the 
king heard of her, and sent for her. He received 
her by torchlight, and standing in the midst of 
many nobles, more richly dressed than he was ; but 
she knew him at once among them all, and led him 
a little apart, when she told him things that he de- 
clared no one else could have known but himself, 
and which made him sure she must have some un- 
earthly knowledge. She said her Voices directed 
her to go and fetch a marvellous sword from the 
shrine of St. Catherine, at Fierbois, and with 
this in her hand she led the troops to drive the 
English from Orleans ; but she never herself fought 
or struck a blow ; she only led the French, who had 
such trust in her, that wherever she led the}^ will- 
ingly followed. The English soldiers, on the other 
hand, believed her to be a witch, and fled in horror 
and dismay, leaving their leaders, who stood firm, 
to be slain. Thus it was that she succeeded in en- 
tering Orleans and delivering it from the siege. 
Thenceforth she was called the Maid of Orleans, 
and victory seemed to follow her. She fought in 



240 Young FolW History of France. 

the name of Heaven, and did all she could to 
make her followers holy and good, rebuking them 
for all bad language or excess ; and at last she had 
the great joy of opening the way to Rheims, the 
city where all the French kings had been crowned 
ever since the beginning of the Meerwings. She 
saw Charles YII. crowned and anointed, and then 
she begged to go home to her cottage ; but the king 
and his council would not permit this, because she 
was such an encouragement to their men, and a 
terror to the English. But her hope and confidence 
were gone, and the French captains did not like 
her, though their men did ; and at Compiegne the 
governor shut the gates, and left her outside to be 
made prisoner by the Burgundians. She was kept 
in prison a long time — first in Burgundy, and then 
at Rouen — and tried before French and Burgun- 
dian bishops, who decided that her Voices had been 
delusions of Satan, and her victories his work ; 
therefore, that she ought to be burnt as a witch. 
To the eternal disgrace of Charles YII., he never 
stirred a finger to save her, and she was burnt to 
death in the market-place at Rouen. 

No one ever deserved less to win back a kingdom 
than Charles. He amused himself with one un- 
worthy favorite after another ; but there was ^ 




JOA>' OF AKC EXAMINKD IN PHISON. 



(Tharles VIT. 24b 

brave spirit among his knights and nobles, and the 
ablest of them was Arthur, Count de Richemont, 
brother to the Duke of Brittany, and Constable of 
France. As they grew stronger, the English grew 
Aveaker and less prudent. The Duke of Burgundy 
was offended, and made his peace with the King of 
France ; and the Duke of Bedford soon after died 
at Rouen, worn out with care and trouble. 

Step by step, and bit by bit, did the French king 
regain his dominion. When his cause began to 
look hopeful, he shook off his sluggishness, and 
came in person to receive the submission of Paris, 
and to reconquer Normandy. But the war was 
not finally ended till the year 1453, when Bordeaux 
itself was taken by the French; and thus finished the 
hundred years' war that Edward III. had begun. 

Charles YII. was not at all a foolish person when 
once he chose to exert himself. When the war was 
over, and the bands of men-at-arms had nothino- to 
do, he managed better than his grandfather, Charles 
V. ; for he laid them under strict rules, and gave 
them pay, so that they made him stronger, instead 
of being a torment to the whole country. But the 
nobles were very angry, and rose in an insurrection, 
which the Dauphin Louis joined, chiefly because he 
thought it would give his father trouble ; but when 



244 Young Folks' History of France, 

he found the king too strong for the rebels, he made 
his peace, and left them to their fate. 

Charles was a prosperous man, and established 
peace. In the church, too, there was peace ; for at 
the council held by the Lake of Constance, in the 
year 1415, the rival Popes of Rome and Avignon 
had both been made to resign, and a new one had 
been elected, who was reigning at Rome ; but a 
great deal of evil had grown up during the Great 
Schism, which had not been remedied, =and things 
were growing worse and worse ; for if religion was 
not rightly taught, sin was sure to get unrestrained. 
One of the worst parts of Charles's nature was 
that he was so cold and ungrateful. The merchant, 
Jacques Coeur, had counselled him and lent him 
money, and done more than any one else to bear 
him through his troubles ; and yet he let false and 
ridiculous accusations be brought forward, on which 
this great man was stripped of all his property, and 
sent away to die in exile. Yet Charles's name in 
history is the Well-served ! But his son, Louis the 
Dauphin, hated him, and in a cunning, bitter way 
did all he could to vex and anger him. After 
many quarrels, Louis fled from court, and asked 
the protection of Duke Philip of Burgundy, who 
had become the most magnificent and stately of 



Charles VIZ 245 

European princes, and hoped to make himself or 
his son king of the Low Countries. 

The old king lived in continual fear of this son 
of his, and at last fancied that Louis meant to 
poison him, and refused to take any food or drink, 
until he lost the power of swallowing ; and thus 
this cold-hearted, ungrateful king died a miserable 
death, in the year 1461. His coldness had nade 
everyone the more admire the splendid and gen- 
erous Duke of Burgundy, whose riches and liber- 
ality were the talk of all, and whose court was the 
most stately in existence. Through his mother he 
had inherited Flanders, with all the rich m-anufac- 
turing towns ; and Holland, with her merchant 
cities : and his court was full of beautv and luxury. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 



LOUIS XI. 



L 



1461—1483. 

OUIS XI. was one of the cleverest of men, 
-^ but also one of the most crafty and cruel, and 
who has left the most hateful name in history. The 
one thing he cared for was to be powerful, and no 
sense of truth or pity would stop him in bringing 
this about. But it Avas not for state or splendor 
that he cared. He wore the meanest and most 
shabby clothes, and an old hat, surmounted by little 
leaden images of the saints, which he would take 
down and invoke to help him. For though his re- 
ligion could have been good for nothing, since it 
did not keep him from ever committing any crime, 
he was wonderfully superstitious. He must really 
have been taught, like all of his Church, that the 

saints did not bestow benefits, and could only be 

246 







^M'-.^ ■-..?%.■* ■ 






Mfrj'S.^ 






■^■^ 













')W-. v<- ^ 



f^} 







=K^ 



IvOUIS XI. 



/ 



Louis XL 249 

asked to intercede for them ; but he not only prayed 
to them direct, but to their images ; and it actually 
seems that he thought that if he told one image of 
the Blessed Virgin of some crime, or made it some 
promise, it was a different thing from telling another. 

His court fool once overheard him at his devo- 
tions, and thought them so absurd and foolish that 
he could not help telling of them. The truth was 
that Louis had no love for God or man, he had only 
fear ; and so tried to bribe the saints to keep from 
him the punishments he knew he deserved, by fine 
promises of gifts at their shrines. And his fear of 
man made him shut himself up in a grim castle at 
Plessis-les-Tours, with walls and moats all round, 
and a guard of archers from Scotland, posted in 
iron cages on the battlements, to shoot at any dan- 
gerous person. He did not like the company of 
his nobles and knights, but preferred that of his 
barber, Oliver le Daim, and his chief executioner, 
Tristan I'Hermite ; and whoever offended him, if 
not put to death, was imprisoned in the castle of 
Loches, often in an iron cage, so small that it was 
impossible to stand upright or lie at full length. 

He had one brother, the Duke of Berri, whom 
he feared and hated, persecuting him till the Duke 
of Burgundy took the young man's part ; but Louis 



250 Young Folks' History of France. 

managed to break up their alliance, and get his 
brother back into his own hands, and then to poison 
him. 

The old duke, Philip the Good, died just after 
Louis came to the throne, and his son, Charles the 
Bold, was a brave, high-spirited prince, with much 
that was noble and earnest about him, though very 
ambitious, and even more bent than his father on 
making his dukedom into a kingdom, reaching from 
the German Ocean to the Alps. To upset this 
power was Louis's great object. First, he began to 
stir up the turbulent towns of Flanders to break 
out against Charles ; and then, while this was at 
work, he came to visit him at his town of Peronne, 
hoping to talk him over, and cajole him with polite 
words. But what the king had not expected came 
to pass. The mischief he had been brewing at 
Liege broke out suddenly ; and the people rose in 
tumult, killed the duke's officers, and shut their 
gates. No wonder Charles went into a great rage ; 
and since Louis had put himself into a trap, thought 
it only fair to close the door on him. He kept him 
there till the French army had been summoned, 
and helped to reduce and punish Lidge ; besides 
which Louis made all manner of oaths, which, of 
course, he never meant to keep. 



Louis XL 253 

King and duke hated one another more than 
ever ; and Charles, who had married the sister of 
Edward TV. of England, promised to aid the English 
if they would come to conquer France. Then 
Edward should have all the western parts, and he 
all the eastern. Edward actually came, with one 
of the finest armies that had ever sailed from 
England ; hut the Duke of Burgundy had been 
drawn into war with the German emperor and could 
not join him ; and Louis sent cunning messages and 
bribes to Edward and his friends, to persuade him 
to go away without fighting. The two kings met 
on the bridge of Pecquiguy, across the Somme, with 
a great wooden barrier put up between, for fear 
they would murder one another ; and they kissed 
each other through the bars, while the two armies 
looked on — the English ashamed, and the French 
well pleased, but laughing at them for going back 
in this dishonorabie way. 

Charles the Bold would have gone on with the 
war, but Louis s^tirred up fresh enemies for liim in 
Switzerland. The French king sent secret messen- 
gers into the Swiss towns and cantons to set them 
against the duke. The town of Basle rose, and 
murdered Charles's governor, and then joined the 
young Duke of Lorraine, his bitter enemy, and 



254 Young Folks' History of France. 

made war on him. Charles was beaten in two 
battles, at Morat and Granson ; and at last, when 
he was besieging Nancy (the capital of Lorraine), 
the wicked Count Campobasso, the commander of 
his hired Italian troops, on Epiphany night, be- 
trayed him to the Swiss, opened the gates of the 
camp, and went over to the enemy. There was a 
great, slaughter of the Burgundians ; and after it 
was over, the body of the brave Duke Charles was 
found, stripped naked and gashed, lying half in and 
half out of a frozen pool of water. 

He only left one daughter, named Mary. His 
dukedom of Burgundy could not go to a woman, 
so that returned to France ; but Mary had all 
Flanders and Holland. Her father had betrothed 
her to Maximilian of Austria (the son of the 
German Emperor) ; and when Louis was stirring 
up the towns to rebel against her, she sent her be- 
trothed a ring as a token to beg him to come to her 
help. He did so at once, and they were married, 
and were most happy and prosperous for five years, 
till Mary was killed by a fall from her horse, and 
her baby son Philip had her inheritance. 

So Louis obtained the French part of the duchy 
of Burgundy. His mother, (Mary of Anjou) had 
been the sister of the Duke of Aujou, who had been 



Louis XL 255 

adopted as the son of Queen Jane of Naples, the 
descendant of Charles of Anjou, St. Louis's brother. 
Rene, Duke of Anjou, his brother (the father of 
our Queen Margaret), had never been able to get 
the kingdom of Naples, though he was always called 
King Rene, but he did get the county of Provence, 
which belonged to it ; and there he led a cheerful, 
peaceable life, among painters, poets and musicians, 
and was one of the few good men of his time. His 
wife had been Duchess of Lorraine in her own rignt, 
and the young Duke of Lorraine who fought with 
Charles the Bold, was the son of his eldest daughter, 
for all his sons died young. Louis could not take 
away Lorraine from the young duke ; but he did 
persuade old King Rene at his death to leave the 
French kings all his claims to the kingdom of 
Naples — a very unhappy legacy, as j^ou will see. 

Louis had three children — Anne, who married 
the Duke of Bourbon's brother, the Lord of Beaujeu, 
and whom he loved ; and Jane, a poor, deformed, 
sickly girl, whom he cruelly teased because she was 
ugly, so that she used to hide behind her sister to 
escape his eye. She wanted to go into a convent, 
but he forced her to marry her cousin Louis, Duke 
of Orleans, who made no secret that he hated the 
very sight of her, though she was as good and meek 



256 Young FoWs History of France* 

as possible. Charles the Dauphin was sickly, too, 
and the king himself had lost his health. He was 
in great dread of death — sent for a hermit from 
Italy (Francis de Paula) to pray for him, and 
vowed to give silver and gold images and candle- 
sticks and shrines to half the saints if they would 
save him ; but death came to him at last, in 1483, 
just as the wicked Richard III. had gained the crow» 
of England. 




CHAPTER XXV. 



CHARLES YIII. 



1483—1498. 



YOUNG Charles VIII. was but nine years old 
when he came to the crown. He was a weakly 
boy, with thin legs and large head, but very full of 
spirit. His father had never cared about his learn- 
ing, saying that to know how to dissimulate was 
all that signified to a king ; and his sister Anne, the 

257 



258 Young Folks' History of France. 

Lady of Beaujeu, who had charge of him and his 
kingdom, thought like her father, and took no pains 
to teach him. He read nothing but poems and 
romances about knights and ladies, dragons and en- 
chanters ; but he really did gain the best lessons 
they could teach him, for instead of learning dis- 
sim Illation, he hated it. He never deceived any- 
one, never broke his word, was always courteous ; 
and so far from showing mean spite, like his father, 
he never wilfully grieved or vexed any one of any 
sort through his whole life. 

At first the Lady of Beaujeu was taken up with 
quarrels with their cousin and brother-in-law, the 
Duke of Orleans, who thought he had a better righ\. 
to be Regent than a woman ; and when he could 
not rule, went off to Brittany and made mischief 
there. The Duke of Brittany had no son, and 
everybody wanted to marry his little daughter 
Anne. Orleans himself had hopes of getting him- 
self divorced from his poor, good Jane, and marr}^- 
ing this young girl ; and at last a battle was fought 
between the Bretons and French, in which Orleans 
was knocked down, and made prisoner. He was 
sent off to one castle after another ; but his good 
wife Jane always followed him to do her best to 
comfort him, and never left him except to try and 



Qharles VIIL 259 

gain his pardon ; but the Lady of Beanjen knew 
better than to let him out as long as Anne of Brit- 
tany was not married. Indeed, the Lady thought 
the best thing would be if young Charles could 
marry Anne, and join the great dukedom to his 
dominions. 

But on the one hand, Charles was betrothed to 
Maximilian's daughter Margaret, and Anne to Max- 
imilian himself ; and on the other, there was nothing 
the Bretons hated so much as the notion of being 
joined on to the French. They wanted the poor 
girl of fourteen ro marry a grim old baron, Alan de 
Albret, who had eight children already, because 
they thought he would fight for the duchy. In the 
midst of the dispute, the Duke of Brittany died, 
and poor young Anne had to strive for herself — 
on the one side against the French, who wanted to 
get her duch}^ into their hands ; and on the other, 
against her own Bretons, who wanted to force her 
into taking old Alan d' Albret. She waited in vain 
for Maximilian, hoping he would come to her, as he 
had once come to Mary of Burgundy ; and he was 
setting off, when his son's Flemish subjects, jealous 
of his raising troops, rose in tumult ; so that he had 
to hide in an apothecary's shop, till he was carried 
to prison in the castle at Bruges. 



260 Young Folks' History of France, 

Anne of Beaujeu, in the meantime, raised an 
army and entered Brittany, taking one town after 
another. Still Anne of Brittany held out in her 
city of Rennes. But late one evening a young 
gentleman, with a small suite, came to the gates 
and desired to see the duchess. It was the king ; 
and so sweet in manner, so gentle and knightly was 
he, that Duchess Anne forgot her objections, and 
consented to marry him. And so the duchy of 
Brittany was joined to the crown of France. The 
worst of it was, that Charles VIII. had been be- 
trothed oO Maximilian's daughter Margaret ; but 
his sister cared little for scruples, and he was stili 
under her charge. As soon as Charles and Anne 
were married, the Duke of Orleans was released. 

Charles had always lived on romances, and wanted 
to be a king of romance himself. So he recollected 
the right to the kingdom of Naples which old King 
Ren^ had left to his father, and he gathered to- 
gether one of the most splendid armies that ever 
was seen in France to go and conquer it for him- 
self. Nobody in Italy was ready to oppose him, 
for the cities were all quarrelling among themselves ; 
and the Pope who was reigning then, Alexander 
VI., was one of the wickedest men who ever lived. 
All good men hoped that this young king would 



Charles VIII. 263 

set things to rights — call a council of the Church, 
and have the court of Rome purified ; but Charles 
was a mere youth who cared as yet chiefly for mak- 
ing a grand knightly display ; and yet he could 
not even keep his army in order, so that they did 
dreadful mischief to the people in Italy, and made 
themselves very much hated. He was crowned 
King of Naples, and then left a division of his 
army to guard the kingdom, wliile he rode back 
again the whole length of Italy, and on the way 
claimed the duchy of Milan for his brother-in-law, 
the Duke of Orleans, whose grandmother, Valen- 
tina Visconti, had been a daughter of the Duke of 
Milan. 

The Italian States, however, had all leagued 
against him, and a great army gathered together to 
attack him at Fornova. Then he shewed all the 
high spirit and bravery there was in him. He 
really seemed to grow bigger with j 03' and courage ; 
lie fought like a lion, and gained a grand victory, 
so that he could go home to Queen Anne feeling 
like a true knight. 

But more goes to make a king than knighthood, 
and he did not keep up what he had conquered, 
nor send men or provisions to his army in Naples ; 
so they were all driven out by the great Spanish 



264 Young Folks' JSistori/ of France. 

captain, Gonzalo de Cordova, and only a rem-nant 
of them came home to France, in a miserable con- 
dition. » 

Charles began to think more deeply as he grew 
older. He lost both his infant sons, and his grief 
changed him a good deal. He read better books 
than the romances of chivalry ; and as he had learnt 
truth, honor, and kindness before, so now he learnt 
piet}^, justice and firmness. He resolved to live like 
St. Louis, and began, like him, sitting under the 
oak-tree to hear the causes of the rich and poor, 
and doing justice to all. 

Above all, he knew how vain and foolish he had 
been in Italy, and what a great opportunity he had . 
thrown away of trying to get the terrible evils that 
were going on among the Pope and his cardinals 
cured, by helping the good men left in Italy, to- 
gether with Maximilian and Henry YII., to call a 
council of the Church, and set matters to rights. 
He was just beginning to make arrangements for 
another expedition to make up for his former mis- 
takes, when, one day, as he was going through a 
dark passage leading to the tennis court at Blois, 
he struck his forehead against the top of a doorway, 
was knocked backward, taken up senseless, and 
after lying in that state for a couple of hours, died. 




CHABLT^^ VTB. 



Charles VIH. 267 

in the twenty-ninth year of his life and the fif- 
teenth of his reign, in 1498. He was so much 
loved that one of his servants died of grief, and his 
noble temper had trained up in France such a race 
of knightly men as perhaps has never been seen at 
any other time. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 



LOUIS XII. 



149S— 1515. 



CHARLES VIII. had lost both his children, so 
the throne went to Louis, Duke of Orleans, 
grandson to the second son of Charles V. He was 
a kindly man when selfishness did not come in his 
way, and he was much admired for saying, when 
asked to punish some of his old enemiQs, that the 
King of France forgot all injuries to the Duke of 
Orleans. The first thing he did, however, was to 
bribe the wicked old Pope, Alexander VI., to sep- 
arate him from his good, faithful wife, Jane, who 
went into a convent and spent the rest of her life 
in praying for him ; while he married Anne of 
Brittany, in order to keep her duchy united with 
the crown. She was a very noble and high-spirited 

queen, and kept her court in such excellent order, 

268 



Louis Xn, 269 

that the time of good Queen Anne has always been 
looked back upon as the very best time of the 
French court. 

Louis was a vain man, and could not rest till he 
had done as much as Charles VIII. So he allied 
himself with the Pope, set off into Italy with an- 
other brilliant army, and seized Milan. He did 
not himself go to Naples, but he sent thither an 
army, who seized a large portion of the kingdom ; 
but then the Spanish King Ferdinand persuaded 
Louis to make peace, and divide the kingdom of 
Naples in half. But while the two kings and their 
ministers were settling where the division should 
be, the soldiers in the kingdom itself were con- 
stantly quarrelling, and the war went on there just 
as if the kings were not making a treaty. At first 
the French had the advantage, for their knights 
were courage itself, especially one whose name was 
Bayard, and who was commonly called " the fear- 
1^ less and blameless knight." The Spaniards, with 
Gonzalo de Cordova, their captain, were shut up in 
the city of Barletta, and stood a long and weary 
siege ; but he was wonderfully patient, and held 
out till fresh troops came out to him from Spain, 
and then beat the French completely at the battle 



270 Young Folks' History of France. 

of Cerignola, and then drove them out, city by city, 
castle by castle, as he had done once before. 

The Italians themselves hated both French and 
Spaniards alike, and only wanted to get Italy free 
of them ; but instead of all joining openly together 
against them, their little states and princes took 
different sides, according to what they thought most 
likely to be profitable, though in a battle they did 
not care much who they killed, so long as he was a 
foreigner. A clever Florentine, named Machiavelli, 
wrote a book called " The Prince," in w^hich he 
made out that craft and trickery was the right way 
for small states to prosper and overthrow their 
enemies ; and this spirit of falsehood was taken for 
good policy, and is known by his name. 

The manner of fighting was curious. Able cap- 
tains used to get together bands of men-at-arms, 
who had been trained to skill in warfare, but who 
did not care on what side the}^ fought, provided 
they were paid well, allowed to plunder the towns 
they took, and to make prisoners, whom they put 
to ransom. Some of these bands were on horse- 
back, some on foot, and the most feared of all 
among the foot soldiers were the Swiss, who were 
very terrible with their long pikes, and would hire 
themselves out to any one who paid them well , but 




CHEVALIER KAYAKD GOLNa TO IHK \\ AKS. 



Louis XII. 273 

if they did not get money enough, were apt to 
mutiny and go over to the other side. 

The wicked Pope, Alexander VI., was poisoned 
by drinking by mistake the wine he had meant to 
poison another person with ; and the new Pope, 
Julius II., made a league with Louis and Maxi- 
milian against the Venetians. It was called the 
League of Cambrai, but no sooner had the brave 
French army gained and given to Julius the towns 
he had been promised, than he turned again to his 
Italian hatred of the foreigner, and deserted their 
cause. He made another league, which he called 
the Holy League, with the Emperor Maximilian, 
the Spanish Ferdinand, and Henry VIII. , for 
driving the French out of Italy. This was the sort 
of bad faith that Machiavelli had taught men to 
think good policy. 

The French army in Italy was attacked by the 
Spaniards and Italians, and though the brave young 
general, Gaston de Foix, Duke of Nemours, gained 
a grand battle at Ravenna, he was killed at the close 
of the day ; and the French having everybody 
against them, were driven back out of the duchy 
of Milan, and over the Alps, and entirely out of 
Italy. Louis XII. could not send help to them, for 
Ferdinand was attacking him in the south of France, 



274 Young Folks' History of France, 

and Henry yill. in the north. The sister of the 
Duke of Nemours was the second wife of Ferdi- 
nand, and he said she ought to be Queen of Navarre ; 
and as the real queen was wife to a French count, 
Ferdinand seized the little kingdom, and left only 
the possessions that belonged to the French side ot 
the family ; so that henceforth the King of Navarre 
was only a French noble. 

Henry VIII brought a line army with him, with 
which he besieged and took the city of Tournay, 
and fought a battle at Enguingate, in which the 
French were taken by surprise ; a panic seized them, 
they left their brave knights. Bayard among them, 
to be made prisoners, and galloped of so fast that 
there were only forty men killed, and the English 
called it the Battle of the Spurs. 

Terouenne was also taken, and Louis thought it 
time to make peace. His wife, Anne of Brittany, 
was just dead. She had had only two daughters. 
Claude and Renee ; and as Claude was heiress oi 
Brittany, it was thought well to marry her to 
Francis, Duke of Angouleme, who was first cousin 
to her father, and who would be King of France. 
Francis was a fine, handsome, graceful young man. 
but he had a very bad mother, Louise of Savoy. 
Queen Anne knew Claude would not be happy, and 



Louis XIL '275 

tried hard to prevent the match, but she could not 
SiUcceed, and she died soon after it was concluded. 
Louis then offered himself to marry Henry's young- 
est sister, Mary, and the most beautiful princess in 
Europe, and she was obliged to consent. Louis was 
not an old man, but he had been long obliged to 
take great care of his health, and the feastings and 
pageants witli which he received his young bride 
quite wore him out, so that he died at the end of 
six weeks, on the Xew Year's Day of 1515. 

He is sometimes called the father of his people, 
though he does not seem to have done much for 
their good, only taxed them heavily for his wars in 
Italy ; but his manners were pleasant, and that went 
for a great deal with the French. The Italian wars, 
though very bad in themselves, improved the 
French in taste by causing them to see the splendid 
libraries and buildings, and the wonderful collection 
of statues, gems, and vases of the old Greek times, 
which the Italian princes were making, and those 
most beautiful pictures that were being produced 
by the greatest artists who have lived. This brought 
in a love of all these forms of beauty, and from 
that time forward the French gentlemen were much 
more cultivated than they had been in the old 
knightly days, though, unfortunately, they were 
much less religious, for the sight of those wicked 
Popes had done them all much harm. 




CHAPTER XXYII. 



FRANCIS I. — YOUTH. 



1515—1526. 



FRANCIS I., the new King of France, was 
twenty years old, and very brilliant, hand- 
some, gracious, brave, and clever, with his head full 
of chivalrous notions, but no real sense of religion 
to keep him up to the truth and honor tha: are the 

most real part of chivalry. 

276 




FKAKCIS T. AT MARIGNANO. 



Francis I. — Youth, 279 

To conquer Italy was, as usaal, liis first notion, 
and lie set out across the Alps ; but the Swiss had 
turned against him, and blocked up his way at 
Marignano. There was a terrible battle, beginning 
late in the day, and when night came on everything 
was in confusion. The king lay down on a cannon, 
and asked for some water ; but the only water that 
could be found was red with blood, and he turned 
from it, sickened. All night the great cow-horns 
which were the signal of the Swiss troops, were 
heard blowing, to gather them together ; but the 
French rallied sooner, and Avon a complete victory, 
which was very much thought of as no one had 
ever beaten the Swiss before. When it was over, 
Francis knelt down before Bayard, and desired to 
be dubbed a knight by him, as the bravest and 
truest of knights. When this was done. Bayard 
kissed his sword and declared that it should never 
be put to any meaner use. 

After this, Francis went on to take possession of 
Milan ; and he had an interview with the Pope at 
Bologna. It was a new Pope, called Leo X., a man 
very fond of art and learning and everything beau- 
tiful, though he cared little for duty or religion. 
He made an agreement with Francis, which is called 
the Concordat of Bologna. By this the king gave 



280 Young Folks' Itistory of Prance. 

the Pope cei'tain payments every year for ever, and 
gave up the calling sj-nods of his clergj^ regularly ; 
and the Pope, in return, gave the king the right 
for himself and his successors of appointing all the 
bishops, deans, abbots, and abbesses in France for 
ever. Nothing ever did so much harm in France, 
for the courtiers used to get bad men, little children, 
;ai)d all sorts of unfit persons appointed for the sake 
of their lands and wealth; and the clerg}*, being 
liindered from taking counsel together, grew more 
idle and dull. The people were taught nothing 
good, and every sin that they were prone to grew 
worse and worse. 

Francis himself was a spoilt child, caring only 
for pleasure, and what he called glory. He wanted 
to be Emperor of Germany, and tried to get Henry 
VIII. to help him ; and they had a great meeting 
at Ardres (near Calais), when such splendors in 
tents, ornaments, and apparel were displayed, that 
the conference was known as the Field of the Cloth 
of Gold. The two kings were both joyous young 
men, and they wrestled and played together like 
two boys ; but nothing came of this display, for 
Henry really preferred the young King Charles of 
Spain, who was grandson to the Emperor Maxi- 




DEATH OF BAYABD. 



Francis I. — Youth. n 283 

milian and Mary of Burgundy, and thus inherited 
the Low Countries. 

When Maximilian died, Francis offered himself 
for the empire, and told the electors the}^ were to 
think of him and Charles not as enemies, but as 
rivals for the same lady. This, however, was only 
a fine speech, for Francis was much discontented 
when Charles was chosen emperor, and began a 
war again at once : but all he got by this was, that 
the Italians rose and drove his army out of Milan. 
Another misfortune befel him. His mother, Louise 
of Savoy, who had always spoilt him, and whom 
he gave way to more than any one else, was so 
foolish as to fall in love with Charles, Duke of 
Bourbon and Constable of France ; and when the 
Constable laughed at lier, she resolved to ruin him, 
and made the king most unjustly decide against 
him in a suit about his lands. The Constable was 
so angry that he went to Spain, and offered to serve 
Charles against his king and country. He was so 
good a captain that Charles was glad ; but every 
one felt that he was a disgraced man, and the old 
Spanish noble in whose castle the emperor lodged 
him would not so much as shake hands with him. 
However, he was with the army that Charles sent 
into Ital}' to meet tliat with wliicli Francis tried to 



284 Young Folks' History of France, 

regain Milan. In a little battle near Ivrea, the 
good knight, Bayard, was sliot through the back. 
The French were retreating before the enem}^, and 
were forced to leave him lying under a tree ; but 
the Spaniards treated him with the deepest respect, 
and when the Constable de Bourbon came to him, 
it was with much grief and sorrow. " Sir," said 
the dying Bayard, " j^ou need not pity me for dying 
in my- duty, like a brave man ; but I pity you 
for serving against your king, your country and 
your oath." And Bayard set up his cross-handled 
sword before him, and died as a true and good 
knight. 

But Bourbon did not take warning. He actually 
led a Spanish army to invade his own country, and 
ravaged Provence ; but all the French rallied under 
Francis, and he was driven back. Then Francis 
himself crossed the Alps, hoping to recover what he 
had lost in Italy, and for a time he had the advan- 
tage ; but Charles's best general, the Marquis of 
Pescara, marched against him while he was be-, 
sieging Pavia. There was a terrible battle, fought 
on the 24th of February, 1525. Francis was too 
hasty in supposing the victory was his, charged 
with all his horse, got entangled in the firm Spanish 
squadrons, and was surrounded, wounded, and 




CAPTURE OF FKA>CIS I. 



Francis L — Youth. 287 

obliged to yield himself as a prisoner. Most of his 
best knights were killed round him, and in a fort- 
night after the battle there was not a Frenchman 
in Lombardy who was not a prisoner. 

The Marquis of Pescara treated Francis respect- 
full}^ and he was sent as a prisoner to Madrid, 
where he was closely guarded ; and Charles, who 
had given out as his object to break the pride of 
France, would only release him upon very hard 
terms — namely, that he should yield up all his pre- 
tentions to any part of Italy, renounce the sov- 
ereignty of the Low Countries, make Henry d'Al- 
bret give up his claim to Navarre, and marry 
Charles's sister Eleanor, giving his two sons as hos- 
tages till this was carried out. Francis was in 
despair, and grew so ill that his sister Margaret 
came from Paris to nurse him, when he declared 
that he would rather abdicate his throne than thus 
cripple his kingdom. If he had held to that reso- 
lution, he would have been honored forever ; but 
he had no real truth in him, and after about ten 
months' captivity, he brought himself to engage 
to do all that was demanded of him ; but at the 
same time, he made a protest, before a few of 
his French friends, that ho only signed a treaty 
with Charles because he was a prisoner and in his 



288 Young Folks'* History of France, 

power, and that he would not think himself bound 
to keep it when he was free. If any Spaniard had 
heard him, this would have been fair ; but as no 
one knew of it but the French, it was a shameful 
deceit. However, he signed and swore to whatever 
Charles chose, and then was escorted back to the 
borders, where, on the river Bidassoa, he met his 
two young sons, who were to be exchanged for him ; 
and after embracing them and giving them up to 
the Spaniards, he landed, mounted his horse, made 
it bound into the air, and, waving his sword above 
his head, cried out, " I am yet a king ! " He had 
better have been an honest man ; but though his 
first thought was how to break the treaty, he was 
at first so glad to get home that he spent his time 
in pleasures. He had one or two good and noble 
tastes. He was so fond of those great artists who 
were then living, that some of their very grandest 
pictures were painted for him, such as Raffaelle's 
beautiful picture of the Archangel St Michael; 
and Leonardo de Vinci, one of the greatest of 
painters, found a home with him, and died at last 
in his arms. 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

FKANCIS I. — MIDDLE AGE. 
1526—1517. 

THE other nations of Europe thought that the 
emperor was too hard npon Francis, and they 
were the more inclined to join against him when 
the Imperial army, without any orders to that effect, 
marched to Rome, under the Constable de Bourbon, 
and actually took the city. Bourbon himself was 
shot dead in the assault, and there was no one to 
stop the troops in the horrible savage cruelties and 
profanations they committed. The Pope gave him- 
self up as prisoner, and Charles could make what 
terms he pleased. Francis found he could not 
stand up against him, so the mother of the French 
king (Louise of Savoy) and the aunt of the Em- 
peror (Margaret of Austria) met at Cambrai, and 
made what is called the Ladies' Peace, which gave 

289 



290 Young Folks History of France, 

France somewliat better terms than the treaty of 
Madrid had done. 

Things were very bad in France just then, and 
good earnest men longed to set them right. John 
Calvin, a man of much learning, who had been in- 
tended for a priest, had, during his course of study, 
come to think that much of the teaching of the 
Church of Rome was mistaken, and he put forth 
books which were eagerly read by great numbers, 
especially by the king's sister Margaret, who had 
married the dispossessed King of Navarre ; and by 
his sister-in-law, Renee, the Duchess of Ferrara. 

Tlie king himself liked very well to laugh atthe 
greedy and vicious ways of the clergy he had got 
about him, and he was too clever a man not to see 
that they let the people be taught a great deal that 
was foolish and could not be true ; but Calvin and 
his friends condemned strongly all his own easy, 
pleasure-loving ways of life. A real good priest of 
the Church would have done the same ; but Francis 
did not bring good ones about him, and the Cal- 
vinist teaching made him angry. Besides, Calvin 
condemned things that were right as well as things 
that were wrong, affud his followers shocked many 
devout and reverent spirits by treating all things 
that they had always thought sacred, as idols. Some 




BUF.A5CrvO ()?• TIIK STATUE OF THE VTKniX MAKV. 



Francis L — Middle Age. 293 

one broke a statue of the Virgin Mary in the streets 
of Paris, and this led to a cry on the part of the 
people that such things should not be allowed to go 
on. The persons who were pointed out as Calvin- 
ists were seized ; and when they showed how little 
they agreed with the doctrines of the Roman Cath- 
olic Church, they were delivered over by the clergy 
to the State, and burnt alive, according to the cruel 
laws for dealing with heretics. 

But their brethren were only the firmer in their 
doctrine, and hated the Romish Church the more 
for thus trying to put down the truths that contra- 
dicted some of her teachings. The Calvinists were 
called in France Huguenots, though no oue quite 
knows why. The most likely explanation is, that 
it is from two Swiss words, meaning " oath-com- 
rades," because they were all sworn brothers. Cal- 
vin himself, when he could not safely stay in France, 
accepted an invitation from the Reformers of Geneva 
to come and guide them, and thence he sent out 
rules which guided the French Huguenots. 

Margaret, the Queen of Navarre, thought with 
the Huguenots, that much was wrong in her 
Church, but she would rather have set the Church 
right ; and her brother, the king, never allowed 
measures to be taken for driving her to break with 



294 Young Folks' History of France, 

the Church. Her only child, Jane, was, however, 
brought up an ardent Huguenot. She was a de- 
termined, high-spirited little girl ; and when in her 
twelfth year, her uncle. King Francis, wanted to 
marry her to the dull, heavy Duke of Cleves, and 
send her off to Flanders, she cried and entreated 
till the good-natured king could hardly bear it. 
When the poor little bride was dressed, against her 
will, she either could not stand under the weight of 
her jewels or she would not try, and her uncle bade 
the stout Constable de Montmorency take her in 
his arms and carry her to the church ; and so the 
wedding was gone through ; but before the feasts 
were over, or she could be carried to Cleves, Fran- 
cis heard news of the duke's having made friends 
with, the emperor, and was very glad to be able to 
say that, as the bride had never consented, the 
marriage was null and void. Jane afterwards mar- 
ried Antony, Duke of Bourbon, who was always 
called King of Navarre in her right, though the 
Spaniards had all the real kingdom of Navarre, and 
she only had the little French counties of Beam 
and Foix, but here she fostered the Huguenots with 
all her might. 

Charles V. and Francis kept up a war for most 
of their lives, but without any more great battles 



Francis L — Middle Age, 295 

Francis would do any thing however disgraceful, 
to damage Charles ; and though he \\'as persecuting 
the Calvinists at home, he helped and made friends 
with the Protestants in Germany, because they 
were the Emperor's great trouble ; and again, be- 
cause Charles was at war with the Turks and the 
Moors, Francis allied himself with them. How- 
ever, as he deserved, his treachery profited him 
little, for the emperor gained a fast hold on Italy, 
and, moreover, invaded Provence ; but the Count 
de Montmorency laid waste every town, village, 
and farm in his way, so that his army found nothing 
to eat, and he was forced to retreat, though, in 
truth, the poor Provencals suffered just as much 
from their own side as they could have done from 
the enemy. However, Montmorency was made 
Constable of France as a reward. 

After this, peace was made for a time, and 
Charles, who wanted to go in haste from Spain to 
Flanders, asked leave to pass through France ; and 
Francis admired himself immensely for receiving 
him most courteously, sending the Dauphin to meet 
him, and entertaining him magnificently. But at 
one of the banquets, we are told that Francis 
pointed to the Duchess of Chatelherault, saying, 
" Here's a lady who says I am a great fool to let 



29o Young Folks' History of France, 

jou go free." The emperor took the hint, and 
dropped a costly ring into the gold basin that the 
duchess held to him to wash his hands in. An- 
other day. as the king and the emperor were set* 
ting out on a pleasure excursion, the Duke of 
Orleans, Francis's second son, a wild young fellow, 
always in mischief, sprang up behind the emperor, 
and clasping both arms round his waist, cried out, 
" Your Imperial Majesty is my prisoner ! " It is said 
that Charles was for the moment much disconcerted. 
However, he departed in safety, but no sooner 
did Francis hear of his being in trouble in his own 
domains, than all promises were again broken, 
and the war began again. This time Henry VIII. 
was very angry with his bad faith, and joined the 
emperor to punish it. Charles invaded Champagne, 
and Henry landed at Calais, and besieged and took 
Boulogne. However, the emperor first made peace, 
and then Henry, who promised, in eight years' 
time, to give back Boulogne for a ransom of two 
million crowns. Just after this peace was made 
Henry died, and Francis only lived two months 
after him, dying in January, 1547, when only fifty- 
three years old. Poor queen Claude had long been 
dead, and he had married the emperor's sister 
Eleanor, to whom he did not behave better than to 




BCKE OF ORLEANS AND CHARLES V. 



Francis I. — Middle Age, 299 

Claude. She had had no children, and most of 
Claude's were weak and delicate, so that only two 
survived their father— Henry, who had been the 
second son, but had become Dauphin | and Mar^ 
garet, the youngest daughter. 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

HENEY II. 

1547—1559. 

HENRY II., the son of Francis I., had better 
qualities than his vain and faithless father, 
and if he had lived in better times, and had good 
men about him, he might have been an excellent 
person. He was not one of those men who can 
change the whole face of a country for good, but 
was borne along with the stream : his grandmother 
and father had made the whole court wicked and 
corrupt, while, now that the Church of France had 
lost its freedom, the clergy were so much in bondage 
that nobody dared to speak plain truths to the 
king, and he went on in sin unrebuked. 

The Calvinists (or Huguenots), who read the 
Bible and tried to keep the Commandments, looked 

at the wicked court with horror, and declared that 

300 



Henry IL 301 

the way the clergy let it go on was a sign that 
their Church could not be true ; and, on the other 
hand, the young nobles mixed up Calvinism and 
strictness of life in their fancies, and laughed at 
both ; and so the two parties made one another 
worse. 

The king was a kind-hearted man, and very con- 
stant in his affections. His greatest friend was the 
Constable de Montmorenc}-, to whom he held fast 
all his life ; and his other strongest feeling was for 
a beautiful lady called Diana of Poitiers. She was> 
a widow, and he wore her colors (black and silver) 
and twisted her initial (D.) up with his own (H.) 
in his device, without ever being made to see how 
wrong it was to forsake his wife Catherine who 
had been chosen for him when his father wanted to 
make friends in Italy. She was the daughter of 
the great Florentine family of Medici, and was very 
wary and cunning, living so quietly that no one 
guessed how much ability she had. She had a 
large family, and the eldest son, Francis, was be- 
trothed to the infant Mary, Queen of Scots, who 
was sent from her own kingdom to be brought up 
with her young husband in the court of France. 

Henry went on with the war with the emperor, 
and would not let the French .bishops go to Trent, 



302 Young Folks' History of France, 

where Charles was trying to get together a council 
of the Church, to set to right the evils that had led 
to the separations. Henry had one verj^ able gen- 
eral, .Francis de Lorraine, Duke of Guise (a son of 
that Bene, Duke of Lorraine, of whom you may 
remember hearing as grandson to old King Ren^). 
He sent this general to seize the city of Metz, 
which he declared he had a right to ; and there 
Guise shut himself up and stood a siege by the 
emperor himself, until hunger and famine made 
such havoc in the besieging army that they were 
forced to retreat. 

The emperor was growing old, and suffered much 
from the gout, and he longed for rest and time to 
prepare himself for death. So he decided on re- 
signing his crowns, and going and spending the 
remainder of his life in a Spanish monastery. He 
gave the empire to his brother Ferdinand, and the 
kingdoms of Spain and the two Sicilies, with Lom- 
bardy and the Low Countries, to his son, Philip IL, 
who was married to the English queen, Mary Tudor. 
This made the English join in the war against Henry 
IL, and a small brave body was sent to the Spanish 
army, which, witli Philip himself, was besieging 
St. Quentin, a town on the borders of Picardy. 
One of the bravest' men in France (a Huguenot 




<HJIS£ A* U&'Si* 



Eenry U, 305 

nobleman), Gaspar de, Chatillon, Admiral de 
Coligny, was defending the town, and his brother, 
the Sieur d'Andelot, tried hard to break through 
and bring him provisions, but he was beaten back ; 
and there was a great battle fought on the 10th of 
August, 1557, before the walls, when the Constable 
de Montmorency, who commanded the French, was 
entirely beaten. He was himself made prisoner, 
four thousand men were killed, and Coligny was 
forced to surrender. France had not suffered such 
a defeat since the battle of Agincourt ; and Philip 
was so thankful for this victory of St. Quentin, 
that, as it happened upon St. Lawrence's Day, he 
built, in Spain, a palace and a convent all in one, 
the ground plan of which was shaped like the grid- 
iron, or bars of iron, on which St. Lawrence suf- 
fered martyrdom. However, it was some comfort 
to the French that the Duke of Guise managed to 
take by surprise the city of Calais, which the 
English had held ever since the time of Edward 
III., and which was their last French possession. 
But other mischances forced Henry to make peace ; 
and at Cateau Cambresis, in 1559, a treaty was 
signed which put an end to the long Italian wars 
that had been begun by Charles YIII. nearly sev- 
entv years before. After this, there were great 



306 Toung Folks* History of France, 

rejoicings; but the persecution of the Calvinists 
was carried on with more rigor, and the king and 
all Ris court, even the ladies, used to be present at 
the burning in the market-place. One poor tailor, 
on his way to the stake,, turned round and gave the 
king a last look, which, it is said, Henry never for- 
got all the days of his life. 

These da3^s were not, however, very long after- 
wards. One of the unjust acts Francis had done 
was the seizing the little dukedom of Savoy in the 
Alps, and adding it to his kingdom. The landless 
Duke of Savoy had gone and served in the Spanish 
army, and was an able general — indeed, it was he 
who had reall}^ gained the battle of St. Quentin ; 
and one article in the peace of Cateau Canibresis 
had been that the French should give him back his 
lukedom and marry him to Margaret, the only 
sister of Henr}-. The wedding festivities were in- 
tended to be very magnificent, and Henry began 
them with a splendid tournament, like those of the 
old times of knighthood, when the knights, in full 
armor, rode against each other with their heavy 
lances. Henry himself took part in this one, and 
tried to unhorse the Sieur cles Lorges, eldest son of 
the Count de Montgomery. There was generally 
very little danger to men in steel armor, but as 



Eenry IL 809 

these two met, the point of Des Lorges' lance 
pierced a join in the visor of Henry's helmet, and 
penetrated his eye and his brain. He was carried 
from the lists, and lay speechless for two days ; and, 
in the meantime, his sister was hastily married in 
private to the Duke of Savoy, that his death might 
not delay the fulfilment of the treaty. He died on 
the 29th of June, 1559, leaving four sons, (Francis, 
Charles, Henry, and Hercules) and three daughters 
(Elizabeth, Claude, and Margaret), all very young. 
Some fortune-teller told their mother, Catherine de 
Medicis, that her sons would be all kings ; and this 
made her very uneasy, as she thought it must mean 
that they would all die, one after the other, without 
heirs, like the three sons of the wicked Philip tKe 
Fair. However, though the fortune-teller was 
nearly right, he was not entirely so. 



CHAPTER XXX. 

FRANCIS II., ' . . 1559—1560. 

CHARLES IX., ......... 1560—1572. 

THE next two reigns, though they are, of 
course, called the reigns of Francis II. and 
Charles IX., Avere realty the reigJi of their mother, 
Catherine de Medicis. Francis was only fifteen 
when he lost his father, and was weakl}^ and deli- 
cate ; and though his mother took the chief man- 
agement of affairs, she knew that he did not care 
for her half so mucli as for liis ^Tjung wife Mary. 
Queen of Scots, who despised her for not being a 
born queen, like herself, but only of a race of Italian 
merchants. 

Mary's mother had been a sister of the Duke of 
Guise, and Catherine knew she would help her 
uncle forward. Besides, the duke was the hand- 
somest and bravest gentleman in France, and had 

310 




TBANCIS II. AXD MARY STUART 



Francis IT. 313 

such gracious manners that all loved him. He was 
quite the head of the zealous Roman Catholics, and 
Catherine wanted to keep him down. So, as slje 
did not much care for any religion, she made friends 
with the chiefs of the Huguenots. Queen Jane of 
Navarre was the real chief, for she had made her 
little county of Beam quite Calvinist ; but her 
husband, Antony, Duke of Bourbon, loved amuse- 
ment more than any thing else, and never cared 
enough to make up his mind. However, his brother 
Louis, Prince of Cond^, saw that they would be 
thought more of by the Huguenots than by the 
other party ; and though not a very religious man, 
he was sincere in thinking the Roman errors wrong. 
So these two drew Antony their way. Besides, the 
Admiral de Coligny, who had defended St. Quentin, 
was a thoroughly good, pious, sincere man, and was 
much looked up to as the noblest of Huguenots. 
Condd hated nothing so much as the Duke of 
Guise, and he had a plan for seizing him and the 
young king, but it was found out in time; and 
Guise, on his side, laid a plan for inviting the prince 
and his brother (who was always called the king of 
Navarre), in to the king's chamber. Francis was to 
call out, " Here, guards ! " and the guards were to 
dash in and seize or kill the two brothers. But 



314 Young Folks'^ History of France, 

Francis could not make up his mind to do such a 
cruel, treacherous thing ; so he would not give the 
word, and let the princes go safely. Guise was 
very angry, and said he was a coward ; but it was 
happy for the poor boy that he w as kept from this 
evil deed, for it was the last act of his life. He 
died of a swelling in his ear, in his seventeenth 
year, in 1560. His wife. Queen Mary, went back 
to Scotland ; and his brother, Charles IX., who was 
only twelve years old, began to reign. 

The Duke of Guise lost power at court when his 
niece went away, and Catherine listened more to 
Cond^. Indeed, she consented that the Chief Cal- 
vinist ministers should have a conference at Passy 
with the bishops, to try if they could not be recon- 
ciled to the Church ; but though they began peace- 
ably, the argument soon ended in a quarrel. How- 
ever, the Huguenots were allowed to hold meetings 
for worship, provided it was not in a walled town, 
or where they could disturb Catholics ; and in their 
joy at gaining so much, they ventured to do much 
more ; and wherever they were the stronger, they 
knocked down the crosses and the images of the 
saints, and did all they could to show their dislike 
of the Catholic worship. 

At Yassy, where the mother of the Duke of 



Charles IX. 817 

Guise lived, there was a barn where the Huguenots 
used to meet. When her son was visiting her, she 
complained of them ; and when he went to church 
on Sunday, he heard them singing. His followers 
were very angry at what they thought imperti- 
nence, broke into the barn, made a riot and killed 
several. This was the beginuiug of the great war 
between the Catholics and Huguenots — a sad and 
terrible one. It was interrupted by many short 
times of peace, but you would only be puzzled if I 
tried to tell you of all the wars and all the treaties. 
The chief thing you have to remember is, that a 
Guise was always at the head of the Catholics, and 
a Bourbon at the head of the Huguenots ; and that 
though the queen was a Catholic, she sometimes 
favored the Huguenots, for fear of the Guises; but 
she was so false that nobody could believe a word 
she said. The most honest man at court was old 
Constable de Montmorency, but he was terribly 
stern and cruel, and every one feared him. The 
city of Rouen fell into the hands of the Huguenots, 
and Guise besieged it ; but in the course of the 
siege he was shot b}^ a murderer named Poltrot, and 
died in a few hours. His son Henry, who was 
very young at the time, always believed that the 
murderer had been sent by the Admiral de Coligny ; 



318 Young FoWs History of France, 

and though this was not at all likely, the whole 
family vowed vengeance against him. During this 
siege, Antony, Duke of Bourbon (called li ing of 
Navarre) was also killed. He was no great loss to 
the Huguenots, for he had gone over to tht other 
side, and his wife, Queen Jane, was freer to act 
without him. 

Old Montmorency was killed, not long after, in a 
battle with the Prince of Conde, near St. Denis ; 
and the queen thought the Huguenots so prosper- 
ous that she said, in a light AA^ay, to one of her 
ladies, " Well, we shall have to say our prayers in 
French." Her sons were beginning to grow up. 
She did not like to put the king forward, lest he 
should learn to govern, and take away her power ; 
but lier third son, Henry, the Duke of Anjou, Avas 
very handsome and clever, and quite her favorite, 
for he was as false and cruel as herself. In the 
battle of Jarnac he commanded. The Prince of 
Conde, who was on the other side, had his arm in 
a slhig, from a hurt received a few days before ; 
and just as he had ridden to the head of his troops, 
a horse kicked and broke his leg ; but he would 
not give up, and rode into battle as he was. He 
was defeated, and taken prisoner. He was lifted 
uff his horse ; and while he sat under a tree, for he 



Charles IX. 319 

could not stand, a friend of the Duke of Anjou 
shot him through the head. 

The Queen of Navarre felt that she must come 
to the head of her party. She had one son, Henr}', 
Prince of B^arn. As soon as he was born, his 
grandfather had rubbed his lips with a clove of 
garlic, and bidden him be a brave man; and the 
cradle he was rocked in, a great tortoise's shell, is 
still kept at Pau, in B^arn. He had run about on 
the hills with the shepherd lads to make him strong 
and hardy ; and Queen Jane had him most carefully 
taught both religion and learning, so that he was a 
boy of great promise. He was fifteen years old at 
this time ; and his cousin Henry, son of the Prince 
of Conde, was about the same age. Queen Jane 
took them to the head of the Huguenot army, and 
all were delighted to serve under them, while Ad- 
miral de Coligny managed their affairs. 

Under him and Queen Jane they prospered more 
than before, and Queen Catherine began to see that 
she should never put them down by force. She 
pretended to make friends with them, and she and 
her son, Charles IX., made them grants that af- 
fronted all the zealous Roman Catholics very much ; 
but it was all for the sake of getting them in her 



820 Yoking Folks^ History of France, 

power. She offered to marrj^ lier daughter Mar- 
garet to the Prince of Beam, and invited him to 
her court. Poor Queen Jane conld not bear to let 
her boy go, for she knew what would happen, 
Catherine kept a whole troop of young ladies about 
her, who were called the Queen Mother's Squadron, 
and who made it their business, with their light 
songs, idle talk, and pleasant evil habits, to corrupt 
all the young men who came about them. Now 
Jane's little court was grave, strict and dull, and 
Henry enjojed the change. Catherine read Italian 
poetry with him, put amusements in his way, and 
found it only too easy to laugh him out of his strict 
notions of his home. Poor Jane tried to keep up 
his love ; she wrote to him about his dogs and 
horses, and all he used to care for ; but cunning 
Catherine took care never to have mother and son 
at her court together. She sent Henry home be* 
fore she invited his mother to the court. When 
Jane came, Catherine said to one of her friends, 
" I cannot understand this queen ; she will always 
be reserved with me." " Put her in a passion," 
was the answer ; " then she will tell you all her 
secrets." But Jane would never be put in a pas- 
sion, and Catherine could get no power over her. 



Charles IX. 321 

While still at court Jane fell suddenly ill and 
died. Every one thought Catherine had poisoned 
her. There was a man about court, a perfumer, 
whom people called in whispers, " The Queen's 
Poisoner," 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

CHAELES IX. 

1572—1574. 

POOR young Charles IX. would have been a 
good man if his mother would have allowed 
him ; but she taught him that the way to reign was 
to deceive, and he was so much afraid of her that 
he choked all his better feelings. She was exceed- 
ingly afraid of the Huguenots, and thought they 
were conspiring against her ; and the young Henry, 
Duke of Guise, was ready to do anything to be re- 
venged on Goligny, whom he viewed as his father's 
murderer. So, to g^t the Huguenots into her 
power, Catherine invited all their chief nobles to 
come to the wedding of her daughter Margaret with 
young Henry, who had become King of Navarre. 
The Pope would not give leave for the princess to 
marry one who stood outside the Church, but th© 

322 



Charles IX, ' 323 

queen forged his consent ; and the poor bride, who 
was in love with the Duke of Guise, was so unwill- 
ing, that, at the wedding itself, when she was asked 
if she would have this man for her husband, she 
would not say yes ; but her brother Charles pushed 
her head down into a nod, to stand for yes. 

Coligny and his friends had come to the wedding ; 
and the king was so delighted with the brave, honest 
old soldier, that Catherine thought she should lose 
all her power over him. One day, Coligny was 
shot in the streets of Paris by a murderer; and 
though only his hands were shattered, he was so ill 
that the king came to see him, and all his friends 
mustered round him to protect him. Thereupon, 
Catherine settled with her son, the Duke of Anjou, 
and the Duke of Guise, that, when the bell of the 
Church of St. Germain I'Auxerrois, close to the 
palace of the Tuileries, should begin to ring at 
midnight before St. Bartholomew's Day, the people 
of Paris, who were all devoted to the Duke of 
Guise, should rise upon the Huguenots who were 
lodging in their houses, and kill them all at once. 
It was hard to get King Charles to consent, for 
there were many Huguenots whom he had learnt to 
love ; but when he found he could not save Colign}', 
he said, " Let them all die ; let none live to reproach 



324 Young Folks' History of France, 

me." However, he called into his own bedroom 
those whom he most wished to save — namely, his 
good doctor and his old nurse ; but there were a 
great many more in the palace, attending upon the 
young King of Navarre, and every one of these 
was slaughtered, except one man, who dashed into 
Queen Margaret's room and clung to her. Every- 
where murder was going on. The followers of 
Guise wore white scarves On one arm, that they 
might know one another in the dark ; and a troop 
of them rushed in, slew good old Colignj^ in his 
bedroom, and threw his corpse out of the window. 
His chaplain escaped over the roof and hid in a 
ha5doft, where a hen came every day and laid an 
egg^ which was all he had to live on. All the rabble 
of Paris were slaying and plundering their neigh- 
bors, and all the other towns where the Huguenots 
were weakest the same horrid work was going on. 
The Massacre of St. Bartholomew is the deadliest 
crime in the history of France. The young king 
was half mad that night. He is said to have shot 
from the palace window at some whom he saw run- 
ning away ; and though this may not be true, it is 
quite certain that he drew his sword against the 
King of Navarre and Prince of Cond^, and would 
have struck them, if his young wife, Elizabeth of 



Charles IX, 327 

Austria, had not heard of it, and ran in, as she was, 
with her hair hanging down, entreating him to 
spare them ; and their lives were given th»m on 
condition that they would return to the Church, 
which they did ; but they were watched and forced 
to live like a sort of prisoners at court. 

When the English Queen Elizabeth heard of this 
shocking day, she dressed herself and all her court 
in mourning, and would not speak to the French 
ambassador. She broke off the plans for marrying 
her to the Duke of Anjou — a scheme on which 
Catherine de Medicis was much set, as it would 
have made her third son a king without the death 
of the second. However, a kingdom did come to 
him, for the old realm of Poland always chose the 
king by election by all the nobles, and their choice 
fell upon Henry, Duke of Anjou. He did not like 
going to that wild country, away from all the 
amusements of Paris, and delaj^ed as long as he 
could, but he was forced to set off at last. 

Meantime, the poor young king was broken- 
hearted. He tried to forget the horrors of the night 
of St. Bartholomew, and the good men he had 
learnt to love and respect, while he was only draw- 
ing them into a trap. He went out hunting, rode 
violently for long distances, and blew furious blasts 



328 Young Folks' History of France, 

on Ms hunting horn ; but nothing could drive away 
that horrible remembrance, and all that he did was 
to hurt his own health. His lungs were injured ; 
and whenever a bleeding came on, it seemed to him 
that he was in the midst of the blood of the Hu- 
guenots. All the comfort he had was in his old 
nurse and surgeon, whom he had saved; for his 
mother was too busy trying to secure the throne 
for his brother to attend to him, and kept him 
closely watched lest his grief for the massacre 
should be known. So he died in the year 1574, 
when only twenty-three years old, and his last words 
were, " If our Lord Jesus will have mercy on me ! " 
And so we may hope that his repentance was true. 
The war with the Huguenots was still going on 
when he died, for though Coligny was slain, and 
the King of Navarre still closely watched and 
guarded at court, there were enough nobles left 
alive, especially in the South of France, to hold out 
against their enemies. Everybody was growing 
dreadfully cruel on both sides. It was the fashion 
to boast of killing as many as possible. If the 
troops of the queen and Duke of Guise came on a 
preaching of the Huguenots, they burnt the builds 
iug, and slew every one who came out of it; and if 
the Hucruenots found a church or convent not de- 



Charles IX. 829 

fended, they did not use the monks or nuns much 
better. The Count de Montgomery, whose lance 
had caused the death of Henry II., was on the 
Huguenot side, and had some ships, with which he 
sailed about, capturing all the vessels that came in 
his way, and plundering them. It was a miserable 
time, and every one watched anxiously for the new 
king ; but though he was delighted to leave Poland, 
and galloped away in the night from Cracow, as if 
he were a thief, for fear the Poles should stop him, 
he was in no hurry to take all the troubles of his 
French kingdom upon him, but went out of his way 
to Italy, and sta^^ed there amusing himself, while 
all the time the Duke of Guise was growing more 
and more strong, and a greater favorite with the 
people of Paris, who would do anything for him, 
Catherine, too, was trying to marry her fourth son, 
the Duke of Alengon, to Queen Elizabeth, who 
pretended to think about it, and even sent for him 
to see her ; but it was all in order to keep peace 
with France — she never really meant it — and the 
duke was an ugly little spiteful youth, whom every- 
body at court hated and feared* 



CHAPTER XXXII. 



HENEY m. 



1574. 



THE new king, Henry III., was a strange per- 
son. He seemed to have used up all his spirit 
and sense at the battle of Jarnac, which made the 
people think him a hero ; and though he was not a 
coward in battle, he had no boldness in thinking of 
danger — no moral courage in making up his mind. 
On his way home through Savoy, he saw Louise de 
Vaudemont, a beautiful girl, a cousin of the Duke 
of Guise, and determined to marry her. Queen 
Catherine tried to prevent it, because Mary of 
Scotland had been so haughty with her, and poor 
Louise herself was betrothed to a man she loved; 
but the king would not be withstood, and she led a 
dreary life with him. He cared for little but fine 
clothes, Jiis own beauty, and a sort of religion that 

330 



Eenry III. 833 

did him no good. He slept in a mask and gloves 
for the sake of his complexion, and painted his 
face ; and every day he stood over his wife to see 
her hair dressed, and chose her ornaments. He 
had a set of friends like himself, who were called 
his mignons, or darlings, and were fops like him ; 
but they all wore rosaries, of which the beads were 
carved like skulls ; and they, king and all, used to 
go in procession, barefoot and covered with sack- 
cloth, to the churches in Paris, with whips in their 
hands, with which to flog one another in penance 
for their sins. Yet they were horribly cruel, and 
thought nothing of murder. If one of them was 
killed, the king would go and weep over him, take 
out the earrings he himself had given him, and then 
become just as fond of another mignon, Henry 
was very fond of little dogs ; he used^to carry a 
basket of them slung round his neck, and fill his 
carriage with them, when he went out with the 
queen, generally to church, where he used to stick 
illuminations, cut out of old books of devotion, 
upon the wall. 

Henry of Navarre stayed in this disgraceful court 
for nearly two years longer ; but at last, in 1576, 
he grew ashamed of the life he was leading, fled 
away to the Huguenot army, in the South of 



334 Young Folks* History of France, 

France, and professed himself a Calvinist again. 
He soon showed that he was by far the ablest leader 
that the Huguenots had had, and he obtained an- 
other peace, and also that his wife Margaret should 
be sent to him to his little court at N^rac ; but she 
had been entirely spoilt by her mother's wicked 
court, and had very little sense of right and wrong. 
The pair never loved one another ; and as they had 
no children, there Avas nothing to draw them to- 
gether, though they were friendly and civil to one 
another, and Margaret tried to help her husband by 
•the lively court she kept, and the letters she wrote 
to her friends at Paris. 

Even the Duke of Alengon, the youngest brother, 
could not bear the life at Henry's court, and fled 
from it. At one time the Dutch, who had revolted 
from Philip of Spain, invited him to put himself at 
their head ; but he did them no good, and on his 
way home he died. He had never been worth any- 
thing, but his death made a great difference, for 
Henry III. had no children ; and as women could 
neither reign in France themselves nor leave any 
rights to their children, the nearest heir to the 
crown was Henry of Navarre, whose forefather, 
the first Count of Bourbon, had been a son of St. 
Louis. 





MTRDER OF (uasE 



Henry III. 337 

Everybody knew he was the right heir ; but to 
have a Calvinist king to reign over them seemed so 
frightful to all the more zealous Catholics, that they 
formed themselves into a society, which they called 
a League for maintaining the Church, and the 
great object of which was to keep Henry of Navarre 
from being King of France. The Duke of Guise 
was at the head of this League, which was so pow- 
erful, especially at Paris, that he could do almost 
everytliing, and threatened and cowed the king till 
Henry was almost a prisoner in his hands. There 
was a third party — Catholics, but loyal, and with 
the Count de Montmorency at their head — and 
these were the persons to whom Henry trusted 
most. He was fond of his bright, kindly brother- 
in-law, the King of Navarre, and never would do 
anything to prevent him from succeeding, although 
he found that it was not safe to remain in Paris, 
and went to his palace at Blois. Here he framed a 
plot for freeing himself from the Duke of Guise. 
He placed guards on whom he could depend under 
the staircase and in his ante-room ; and when Guise 
came to visit the king in early morning, they fell 
upon him, threw him down, and murdered him. 
When Henry knew that the duke was dead, he 
came out of his room to look at his late enemy. 



338 Young Folks* History of France, 

" How tall he is ! " \Yas all that the king said. His 
brother, the Cardinal of Guise, was killed the same 
day ; and Henry went up to his mother, Queen 
Catherine, who was ill in bed, to tell her that he 
was free from his enemy ; but she saw plainly that 
he was bringing more trouble on himself. "You 
have cut," she said ; " can you sew up again ? Have 
you thought of all that you will bring on yourself? " 
He said he had done so. " Then you must be prompt 
and firm," she said; but she did not live to help 
him through his difficulties. She died a fortnight 
later, having done the most cruel harm to her chil- 
dren, her country, and her Church. 

Henry was far from able to sew up again. All 
the League was mad with rage. Guise's sons were 
little children ; but his brother, the Duke of May- 
enne, took the lead, and though he was not a clever 
man, the party was so strong that it took no greats 
ability to make it terrible to the king. The duke's 
dster, the Duchess of Montpensier, really was like 
a fury, and went about the streets of Paris stirring 
up the people who already hated and despised the 
king, and who now raged against him. They tried 
him in ^^%^^ deposed him, carried his figure through 
the streets heaping insults upon it, and made an 
anagram of his name, Henri de Valois into Vilain 



Henry III. 339 

Herodes. All the world seemed to have turned 
against him, and he was brought to such distress 
that he was obliged to beg Henry of Navarre to 
come and help him. The two kings met at Plessis- 
les-Tours, and were most friendly together. They 
joined their armies and began to besiege Paris ; but 
of course this made the Leaguers more violent 
against Henry than ever, and a young monk named 
Clement, fancying that there was no sin, but even 
virtue, in freeing the Church from a man like 
Henry, crept out of Paris with a packet of letters, 
and while the king was reading one, stabbed him 
in the body with a dagger. Clement was at once 
slain by the gentlemen of the guard, and the King 
of Navarre was sent for in time to see his brother- 
in-law still alive. Henry embraced him, bade his 
people own him king of France, and added, " But 
you will never be able to reign unless you become 
a Catholic." Then he died, in the year 1589, the 
last and most contemptible of the miserable house 
of Valois. The Leaguers rejoiced in his death, and 
praised the murderer Clement as a saint and mar- 
tyr, while they set up as king the Cardinal of 
Bourbon, the old uncle of the King of Navarre, de- 
claring that it Avas impossible that a heretic should 
ever reign in France. 



CHAPTER XXXIIL 

HENEY IV. 

1589—3610. 

THE new king^, Henry IV., was so poor, that lie 
was obliged to dress himself in the velvet coat 
left by his brother-in-law to receive the gentlemen 
who came to make submission to him. France was 
now divided into two parties instead of three, for 
the Leaguers were of course set against the Hu- 
guenots, while the moderate Catholics, who thought 
that the birthright of the crown called them to be 
loyal to any sort of king, all came over to Henry. 
And he was so bright, gracious and good-natured, 
that no one could help being fond of him, who had 
once heard his frank voice and seen his merry 
smile. 

His old uncle. Cardinal Charles, the Leaguers' 

king, soon died, and then they talked of Isabel, a 

340 




HEXKY IV. AT IVJJY. 



Henry IV. 343 

daughter of Philip II. of Spain, because her mothei 
had been eldest sister of the last three kings ; but 
as there was a great hatred of the Spaniards among 
the French, this plan rather did harm to their cause, 
and made many more of the Catholics turn to 
Henry. He was fighting his way to the throne, 
through more battles and sieges, ups and downs, 
than it is possible to tell of here, though the ad- 
ventures he met with are delightful to read of. At 
the battle of Ivry, in Normandy, he told his follow- 
ers that if they wanted a guide in the thick of the 
fray they had only to follow his white feather ; and 
the saying became a by-word after his great victory. 
The Spaniards came to help the League, and the 
war lasted year after year, while Henry still was 
kept out of Paris. At last he made up his mind 
that he would return to the Roman Catholic Church. 
He used to say in after times that one of the true 
things that nobody would believe, was, that he had 
changed out of an honest belief that the Calvinists 
were wrong ; and certainly he did gain a kingdom 
by so doing ; but the truth was that he had very 
little right religion at all, and that he did not like 
the strict ways of the Calvinists. If the Catholic 
clergy had been in a better state, they would not 
have received him unless he had left off all the sm- 



344 Young Folks* History of France. 

ful habits he loved ; but they were only too glad to 
gain him over and accept him heartily. But still 
the League was not satisfied, and only in the year 
1594, when he had been king five years, did he ride 
into Paris, with his hair and moustache gray from 
his cares and toils ; and even then the Leaguers 
went on opposing him, till at last his wisdom, and 
that of his good old friend, the Duke of Sully, suc- 
ceeded in overcoming the remains of their dislike, 
and the Duke de Mayenne consented to make peace 
with him. 

Then only did Henry begin to reign. He had 
to put down some of the great nobles who had 
grown over-powerful and insolent during the long 
civil war; but he was one of the most kind-hearted 
of men, and never punished if he could help it. 
He felt kindly towards the poor, and wished that 
the time would come when every Frenchman should 
have a fat hen to boil in his pot. And besides, he 
tried to do justice between the Catholics and Cal- 
vinists. He had friends on both sides, and was 
anxious to make them live in peace, without fight- 
ing with one another or persecuting one another — • 
a plan which had been proved to convince nobody, 
and only to lead to hatred, cruelty, and misery. So 
he brought about a law which gave the Calvinists 




HENRY IV. AXD MI>'lSTEUa, 



Eenry TV. 349 

leave to have places of worship where there was 
a sufficient congregation, provided it was not where 
they would annoy the Catholics. And they were 
not hindered from taking offices at court or in the 
army, nor from keeping schools in certain places ; 
and to secure all this to them, they were allowed to 
hold three towns as pledges — La Rochelle, Mon- 
tauban, and Montpellier. In this last, there was a 
college for educating their pastors, and at each of 
the three in turn there were meetings of their 
clergy to consult on the affairs of the Church. This 
law was called the Edict of Nantes, because Henry 
had it registered by the Parliament of the old 
duchy of Brittany, since each old province still 
kept its own laws and parliament. He obtained 
this Edict of Nantes with great difficult}^ for almost 
all the Catholics thought it a very wicked thing to 
allow, any person to remain outside the Church ; but 
every one T^as worn out with the long and bloody 
civil war, and was glad to rest ; so the Edict was 
passed, and France began to recover. 

Henry had no children, and wished to be rid of 
his wife Margaret, that he might marry another, in- 
stead of having to leave his crown to his young 
cousin, the Prince of Conde. So, as there had 
never been real consent on the Pope's part to the 



360 Young Folks' History of France, 

marriage of the cousins, and as the bride had been 
forced into it against her will by her mother and 
brother, the Pope was persuaded to pronounce the 
wedding null and void, and that the two were free 
to marry again. Still, it was not easy to find a 
princess, for all the Spaniards and Austrians and 
their allies were his greatest enemies, and he could 
not now marry a Protestant ; so he ended by choos- 
ing one of the Medici family, Mary, who proved to 
be a dull, selfish woman, not so clever as Catherine, 
and not much of a companion to him. 

However, she gave him two sons and three daugh- 
ters, and there was never a fonder father. Once, 
when the Austrian ambassador came to see him, he 
was found on all-fours, with his little son riding on 
bis back. " Are jo\x a father, sir ? " he said to the 
new-comer. " Yes, sire." " Then we will finish 
our game," returned the king. 

There were many of the remnants of the Leaguers 
who hated the king for having once been a Hugue- 
not, and for the Edict of Nantes ; and though the 
love of the whole country was more and more with 
him, he still was not willing to gather a great crowd 
together in Paris, lest harm might follow. So, as 
he had been crowned long before he was married, 
the coronation of Mary de Medicis was put oft, 



Henry IV. 351 

year after year, till it should seem safer ; but she 
was vexed at the delay, and prevailed at last. 
Henry was not with her, and only looked on from 
a private box at the pageant, and while so doing, 
he gravely said to the friend who was with him, 
that he had been thinking how all this crowd would 
feel if the last trumpet were at once to sound. 

His own call was nearer than he thought. The 
next day, just as he had seated himself in his car- 
riage, a man named Francis Ravaillac sprang on 
the wheel, held a paper to him to read, and the next 
moment stabbed him to the heart with a knife, so 
that he died in an instant, one of the greatest losses 
his country had ever known. It was on the 14th 
of May, 1610. He was greatly beloved by his 
people, and his memory is affectionately cherished 
to this day ; and he was really a great man, though 
he would have been far greater if he had been really 
good. 




DH4PTER XXXIT- 
LOUIS xin, 

1610—1648. - 

^IIE eldest son of Henry IV., Louis XIII., was 
but nine years old when his father was killed ; 
and his mother, Marj^ de Medicis, became regent. 
She was a weak, foolish woman, and let herself be 
entire!}' guided by a lady in her train, named Leo- 
nora Galigai, who had married a man named Con- 
cini. iMary made her son give him the title of 
Marshal d'Ancre, and it was they who really ruled 
FrancOo When Leonora was asked how she man- 
aged the queen, she answered, " By the power of 
a strong mind over a weak one.'' But all the old 
French nobles greatly hated d'Ancre for his pride 
and insolence, and many declared that Leonora had 
bewitched the queen. 

Their rule lasted seven years , but when the 

352 



■noxriNl AND MAKY DE MKUICID. 



Louis Xin. 355 

young king was sixteen years old, a young noble- 
man named Luynes stirred him up to free himself 
from them, telling him that, now he was growing 
up, they would secretly kill him, that his mother 
might continue regent in the name of his little 
brother. So Louis desired his guards to arrest 
d'Ancre next time he came to the palace, and to 
kill him if he resisted. He did resist, and was 
cut down and slain, and his wife tried for be 
witching the queen, and put to death. Mary had 
to leave the court and go into the country; 
whence after some years of wrangling with her son, 
she went to England, after her youngest daughter, 
Henrietta Maria, had married King Charles I. 
and she afterwards died in great poverty. 

Louis XHL was a strange person — slow, dull, 
and cold-hearted, though not ill-disposed. His 
health was bad, and he hated trouble and think- 
ing more than anything else. What he chiefly 
cared for was to have some friend about him, who 
would hunt, talk, and amuse him, while all trouble 
was saved him. One very clever man was in his 
court, Armand de Richelieu, Bishop of Lu^on, who 
was the ablest man in court. Albert de Luynes 
was the king's first minister after d'Ancre's fall ; 
but when he died of a fever, Richelieu obtained the 



356 Young Folks' History of France, 

management of everything. He let the king have 
young men as his companions and favorites ; but 
if ever one of these showed any spirit, and tried 
to stir up the king to act for himself and over- 
throw the tyranny he lived under, Richelieu al- 
waj's found it out and put the bold man to death. 
The king did nothing to save liis friends, and wlien 
they were once out of his sight seemed to forget 
all about them ; for in truth he disliked trouble 
more than anything else, and would have been 
very sorry to think for himself instead of letting 
Richelieu think and act for him. 

The cardinal, for so the Pope created him, was 
really one of the most wonderful statesmen who 
ever lived, and made France a much greater and 
more mighty power than ever before, and the king 
much more powerful too. He was a hard, stern 
man, and did not care for justice, or for any one's 
suffering, provided he could do that one thing — 
make the crown of France more powerful. The 
nobles, who had grown strong and haughty during 
the long wars, were very sternly, and even cruelly, 
put down by him. He thought nothing of getting 
them accused of treason, shutting them up in prison 
or having them put to death; and he thus man- 
aged to get rid of all the great men who had been 




LftVli: HIE VIII. A>;D ALBfc-KT DE LUYXKS. 



Louis XIII. 359 

almost princes, such as the Count de Montmor- 
enc}', grandson to the old Constable. 

lie also made war upon the Huguenots, in spite 
of the Edict of Nantes, and tried to take La 
Rochelle from them. There was a long and terrible 
siege. Charles I. of England sent them help ; and 
his favorite, the Duke of Buckingham, was to have 
had the command of the fleet tliat was coming to 
ihem, but he was killed at Portsmouth, as you have 
heard. When at last the people were starved out, 
after fourteen months, the cardinal made the king 
himself come down to receive their submission. 
La Rochelle was a terrible loss to them, and they 
were far more at the king's mercy than when they 
had such a strong town. But at least the Roman 
Catholic Church was in a much better state than 
it had been when they had broken away from it. 
Much still needed to be set right ; but some of the 
worst evils had been put a stop to, and there were 
many very good men among the clergy, especially 
Francis de Sales, Bishop of Geneva, and Vinceni 
de Paul, a good priest, who gathered together the 
poor desolate children who had no lionies, and were 
starving in the streets of Paris, and set good ladies 
to take care of them. He also first established the 
order of Sisters of Mercy, who are like nuns, only 



360 Young Folks' History af France. 

not shut up in convents, but going about to nurse 
tlie sick, take care of orphans, and teach poor chil- 
dren. The great ladies at court used to put on 
plain dresses and go to nurse the sick in hospitals,' 
even the queen herself. She was a Spanish prin- 
cess, called Anne of Austria — a good, kind and 
gracious lady — but no one cared for her much 
at court ; and for many years she had no children, 
but at last when all hope had been given up, she 
had first one and then another boy, and there was 
immense rejoicing. 

Wars were going on with the Spaniards, all 
through the reign, in Italy and the Low Countries, 
us well as a terrible fight between the Roman 
Catholics and Protestants in Germany, which is 
called the Thirty Years' War. Cardinal de Riche- 
lieu managed matters so well that France always 
gained the advantage ; and some excellent generals 
were growing up in the army, especially the Vis- 
count de Turrenne, brother to the Duke of Bouillon 
and the Duke d'Enghien, eldest son of the Prince 
of Cond^, who gained some wonderful victories in 
the Low Countries, while still a mere youth. 

But Richelieu's own iron rule was coming to an 
end. He had been in very bad health for years, 
but he never seemed to care about it, and was as 




KlCUKLllCU AND FATl.KK JObEPH. 



Louis XIIL 363 

ever if a friend of the king tried to take away his 
power. The Baron de Cinq Mars was put to death 
for conspiring against him when he was almost at 
the gates of the grave. He declared, when he was 
receiving his last communion, that he had always 
meant to work for the honor of God and the good 
of the State ; and he died, in his fifty-eighth year, 
on the 4th of December, 1642, after advising the 
king to trust an Italian priest named Mazarin, as 
he had trusted to him. 

Louis seemed to care very little for the loss of 
Richelieu. He only said, " There's a great states- 
man dead ; " and when there was a great storm on 
the day of the funeral, he said, " The Cardinal has 
a bad day for his journey." But he was in a very 
weakly state himself, and only lived five months 
after Richelieu, dying at forty-two }■ ears old, on the 
14th of May, 1643. Never was a son more unlike 
his father than he had been to Henry IV., seeming 
to be his exact opposite in every one of his better or 
worse qualities ; and tho agh his reign was a grand 
one to France, it was no thanks to him, but to 
the great statesman who ruled both him and t\o 
country. 



a 'J iH ID I (J I 




HAPTER XXXV. 



LOUIS XrV. YOUTH. 



1643—1661. 



" T AM Louis XIV.," cried the little five years' 
i old Daupliin, as lie stood by his dying father's 
bedside. "Not yet/' the old king Avas still strong 
enough to say, though he did not live many more 
hours. Poor child ! he did not know what he re- 
joiced in. His was the longest reign that ever king 

364 



Louis XI r. — Youth, 365 

iiad (no less than seventy-seven years), and he was 
sick and wearj^ of it long before it ended. 

At first his mother, Queen Anne, was Regent, and 
she trusted entirely to Mazarin. He was not a 
great man, like Richelieu, but he was clever and 
cunning, and the saying was, '' The fox comes after 
the lion ;" for as he was a foreigner, and of low 
Dirth, the French found it much harder to submit 
to him, than to Richelieu, who was of one of the 
noblest families ill France. Only four days after 
the accession of the little king, the Duke of 
d'Enghien won the great battle of Rocro}^ in the 
Low Countries, which quite destroyed the fine old 
Spanit^h foot soldiers ; and after two more victories, 
peace was made between France and Spain. But 
this did not make things easier for Mazarin, for all 
the nobles who had been away with the army came 
home, with nothing to do, and especially the Duke 
d'Enghien, who soon, on his father's death, became 
Prince of Conde, and who was proud and fiery, and 
hated the upstart Mazarin. 

All this hatred broke out in a great quarrel be- 
tween the queen and the parliament of Paris. You 
must remember that the parliament of Paris was 
a very different thing from the English parliament, 
It did not represent the whole kingdom, for each 



366 Young Folks' History of France* 

of the great old provinces had a separate parlia- 
ment of its own ; and it was only made up of the 
lawyers of Paris, and the great nobles who be- 
longed to the old duchy of France, with the bishops 
and princes of the blood-royal. It used to judge 
peers of France for State ofences, and in matters 
of property ; but it could not make laws or grant 
taxes. All it could do was to register the laws and 
the taxes when the king had made them ; and the 
king's acts were not valid till this had been done. 
Now, when Mazarin, in the king's name laid an un- 
just tax on all the food that was brought into Paris, 
the parliament refused to register the act, and there 
was a great struggle, which is known by the strange 
name of the Fronde. Fronde is the French name 
of a sling ; and in the earlier part of the quarrel 
the speakers used to stand up and throw sharp 
words at one another, then draw back, just like little 
boys slinging stones at one another. But they soon 
came to much worse weapons. You could not un- 
derstand or remember all the strange things that 
then took place ; it is enough for the present to re- 
member that the Fronde was the effort of parlia- 
ment to stand up against the royal power, and that 
there were two sieges of Paris in the course of it. 
The Prince of Conde at first would not turn against 



iOUl8 



XIV. — Youth. 367 



the king, and helped to make a short peace ; but 
then he insisted on the queen sending Mazarin 
away, and when he was gone, the queen found 
Cond^ such a stern, insolent master, that she con- 
trived to get Mazarin back, and he threw Condd 
into prison. Conde's wife joined with the other 
Frondeurs to try to gain his freedom again, and he 
was set free, but only to make another war, in 
which, however, he was overcome, and forced to go 
into banishment, when, to his shame be it spoken, 
he joined the Spaniards, and helped them to make 
war against his own countr3^ 

It was no small punishment for him that Mar« 
shal Turenne was commanding the French, and 
Cond^ was under a very lazy, indolent Spanish gen- 
eral, so that he was sure that there must be a de- 
feat. He said to the Duke o£ York, who was 
serving with him, " Now you will see how a battle 
ought not to be fought." 

For this was the time when all King Charles's 
family were living scattered about in banishment. 
Queen Henrietta was at Paris with her youngest 
daughter ; but when Oliver Cromwell made a 
treaty with the French, he had required that 
Charles II. and his brother, the Duke of York, 
should not be allowed to live in France. 



868 Young Folks' History of France. 

Cardinal Mazarin followed up all the plans of 
Richelieu, and France went on prospering and gain- 
ing victories, until the Spaniards at last, in the year 
1659, made what is called the Peace of the Pyr- 
enees, giving up several towns in the Low Coun= 
tries. The young King Louis was to forgive the 
Prince of Conde, and to marry Maria Teresa, the 
daughter of the King of Spain. 

Only two years later died Cardinal Mazarin, 
leaving an immense fortune. He had, like Richelieu, 
cared for the greatness of the kingdom of France and 
for the power of the crown more than for the charac- 
ter of the king who held all this power, and so he had 
let the young king grow up very ignorant, for fear of 
being interfered with. Anne of Austria, who was a 
good woman, tried hard to make her boys religious, 
and they always respected religion ; but their flatter- 
ers did not teach them how it should tame their pride 
or make them care for the good of the people, and 
Louis XIV. grew up thinking that the nation was 
made for his glory, and not himself for the good of 
his people. Yet he was a wonderfully able man. 
Mazarin said, " There is stuff in him to make four 
kings, and an honest man into the bargain. When 
the cardinal died, and the ministers asked to whom 
they should come, he answered, " To myself;" and 




DEATH OF CARDINAL, MAZAKIN. 



Louis XIV. — Youth, 37S 

for all the half-century after that his reign lasted, he 
was always ready for them. He tried afterwards 
to study and make up for the neglect of his youth, 
but he never was the same he might have been with 
good training. One thing he had from his mother, 
namely, the grandest and most stately courtesy 
and the most kingly manners that perhaps were 
ever seen. He never received a courtse}^ from a 
woman without a bow, and his gracious dignity 
seems fairly to have dazzled the eyes of the very 
best and wisest men, so that they looked up to him 
like a sort of divinity, and could not even see his 
faults. His court was exceedingly splendid, and 
very stiff. Every one had his place there, and 
never came out of it : and who must stand or who 
might sit, who might be on stools and who must 
kneel, in the royal presence, was thought a matter 
of the greatest importance. Richelieu and Maza- 
rin had robbed the nobles of all useful work ; so 
all they cared for was war and waiting at court, 
and getting moiiey from their poor peasants to sup- 
port expense. 




CHAPTER XXXVI. 



LOUIS XIV. — MIDDLE AGE. 



1661—1688. 



T OUIS XIV. loved to be called the Great, but 
^*— ' he did not tinderstand that real greatness is 
making a kingdom happier instead of making it 
larger, and he only cared for his own glory. H( 
had the two best generals then in Europe, th( 
Viscount de Turenne and the Prince of Condd, and 

374 , 



Louis XIV. — Middle Age. 375 

his nobles were very brave and spirited ; so he was 
always going to war, without thinking whether it 
was justly or not, and fancying the honor was his, 
whereas his victories were all owing to his generals ; 
and when he went out to war, he only went to the 
siege of some city, where he rode about in a splen- 
did gold-laced coat, with a huge white feather in 
his cocked hat, quite out of reach of danger. And 
yet his people were all so proud of him that the 
very sight of him made his soldiers fight all the 
better, and poets wrote verses comparing him to 
Jupiter and Mars, and every other warlike hero 
they could think of. 

He had married Maria Teresa, daughter to the 
King of Spain ; and when her father died, he pre- 
tended that he ought to inherit all the Low Coun- 
tries instead of her little brother Charles. This 
was very unjust, and would have made France 
much too powerful ; so the Dutch and English 
joined together to prevent it, and there were some 
terrible fights. But it was when Charles II. was 
king, and his youngest sister, Henrietta, had mar- 
ried Louis's brother, the Duke of Orleans. So 
Louis sent the duchess to persuade King Charles 
and his minister, by promises of money and favor, 
to desert the Dutch ; and to the great shame of the 



376 Young Folks^ History of France. 

English, she succeeded. The brave Dutch were 
left alone against all the power of France. William, 
Prince of Orange, commanded their armies; and 
though he was beaten again and again, the little 
State never gave in ; though to keep out the 
French, it was needful to open the flood-gates that 
pK)tect Holland from the sea, and let in so much 
water that the enemy could not pass. 

Then the Emperor of Germany took up the 
cause of the Dutch, but Louis sent Turenne against 
his troops, and conquered Alsace. Turenne went 
on into Germany, and there his army was grievously 
cruel. Crops were burnt down, houses and villages 
burnt and plundered, and the inhabitants brought 
to misery beyond imagination. Turenne could 
hardly help what he was commanded to do, but this 
war was the darkest spot in his life. He was a 
kind and merciful man in general, and very just 
and upright ; and his soldiers loved him so much, 
that once, when he had fallen asleep during a short 
halt on a bare, bleak hill-side, and it began to snow, 
they made a tent for him with their own cloaks. 
In this war he was killed, while standing under a 
tree near the village of Salzbach, by a cannon-shot, 
which nearly cut his body in two, and mortally 
wounded a nobleman close by. " Do not weep for 




DEATH OF TURENNE. 



Louis XIV. — Middle Age. 379 

me, but for that great man," were the words of 
this gentleman to his son. Turenne was buried 
among the kings at St. Den3^s, and Conde took 
command of the army, gaining man}^ hard-fought 
battles ; until at last peace was made, leaving Louis 
in possession of Alsace and of the city of Stras- 
burg, both of which properl}^ belonged to the 
empire. 

But glory, or what he fancied glory, was all Louis 
cared about ; and besides his great generals, he had 
about him many of the ablest men who had ever 
lived in France, both ministers of State and writers. 
He had likewise most excellent bishops and clergy, 
such as Bossuet, bishop of Meaux, who was a won- 
derfully good preacher, as well as a great scholar. 
Louis made Bossuet tutor to his only son ; but the 
Dauphin was a very dull and silly youth, who cared 
for nothing but playing at cards and shooting, and 
very little could be taught him. He married a 
German princess, who was duller still, and they 
had three sons, the Dukes of Burgundy, Anjou, 
and Berri. To them the king, gave as tutor, Fdn^- 
ion. Archbishop of Cambrai, one of the best and 
holiest men then living. The Duke of Burgundy, 
was a fiery, selfish, passionate boy ; but unier Fdn- 
^lon he learnt to rule himself, and his whole thought 



380 Young Folks' History of France. 

was how to be a good religious prince, heedful of 
his people rather than himself. Fi^n^lon would not 
have thought it right to blame the king himself, 
but he could not teach the young prince his duties 
without showing something yqyj different from 
Louis XIV. as a model. He wrote a story for him 
of a young Greek prince named Telemachus, who 
went on his travels in search of his father, and saw 
all forms of government in his way. A servant 
who was employed to write out the story, stole a 
copy, and sent it to Holland and had it printed 
there ; and when the old king saw it, he was keen- 
sighted enough to perceive that it was meant to 
teach his grandson how to be a better king than 
himself, and he hated Fdndlon accordingly. How- 
ever, it was not for this open reason that the good 
archbishop was kept away from court, but because 
he had taken the part of a religious lad}^ named 
Madam Guyon, who had written a book about the 
Love of God, where there were sentences that 
Bossuet thought likely to do harm. F(^n^lon wrote 
a book himself on the subject ; and though the 
Pope could see no fault in it, Louis forced him to 
condemn it, and F^n^lon submitted most meekly, 
and went on quietly with his work in his own dio- 
cese at Cambrai, often writing to his dear pupil, 



Louis XIV. — Middle Age. 381 

though he was only once allowed to see him again. 
Louis lost his wife, Maria Teresa of Spain, and 
then married a lady called Madam de Maintenon ; 
but he never owned her as his queen, and not more 
than three or four people at court knew that she 
was his wife. He looked up to her and respected 
her opinion very much ; and she used to sit by with 
her work when he was consulting with his minis- 
ters, and he would ask at the end, " What does 
your solidity think ? She was very religious, and 
tried to make him so ; but he was so proud that he 
never could bear to think that our Blessed Lord 
had been a poor man and humble. And the one 
thing she could make him do was a sad one, and 
that was to persecute. All the poor nuns of Port 
Royal were turned out, and shut up in other con- 
vents, because they held fast to the teachings of 
their old guide, M. de St. Cyran. And, what was 
worse, she led him to repeal the Edict of Nantes, 
which protected the Huguenots, and begin to per- 
secute them. Dragoons were quartered in their 
houses, who ate up their food, spoilt their goods, 
and tortured them to make them become Catholic ; 
they were allowed no schools ; their children were 
taken away to be bred up in convents ; numbers 
were thrown into prison ; and if they were caught 



382 Young Folks'' History of Pruned. 

escaping, they were sent to work as convicts, or 
put to death. However, many did escape to Eng- 
land and Prussia, and the English gave them a kind 
welcome. Many who came from the south were 
silk weavers, and settled at Spitalfields, where they 
worked and flourished for several generations. 
Some, who were noblemen, came to court, and were 
officers in the army ; and the loss to France became 
gain to England. 




CHAPTER XXXYIL 



liOXJIS XIY. — OLD AGE. 



1688—1715, 



IN 1688, Louis lost the English alliance. Charle?- 
II. and James II. having spent their youth in 
France, and being Roman Catholics — the one at 
heart, and the other openly — had always looked 
lip to him and been led by him ; but when the 
Revolution took place and James was driven away 

383 



384 Young Folks'' History of France, 

* 

to take refuge once more in France, Louis's greatest 
enemy, William of Orange, became King of Eng- 
land. Louis gave James and his queen a home at 
his palace of St. Germain's, and did all he could for 
them, sending an expedition with James to Ireland ; 
but all in yain — the English only hated James the 
more for bringing the French upon them, and his 
troops were beaten at the river Boyne and his ships 
at Cape La Hogue, so that he was obliged to cease 
from the attempt. 

But another great war soon begai% Charles IL, 
King of Spain, died in 1700, leaving no children. 
His sister and his two aunts had married Emperors 
of Germany and Kings of France ; but as the 
Spaniards did not choose to have their kingdom 
joined on to another, it was always the custom for 
the princesses to renounce all right to the crown 
for themselves and their children. However, the 
whole Spanish line had come to an end, and there 
really was nobody else who had any right at all. 
Now, Louis XIV. had married the sister, so his son 
was the nearest heir ; but, on the other hand, the 
Emperor of Germany was descended from the 
brother of the great Charles V., who had been Em- 
peror and King of Spain both at once. The emperor 
wanted to make his second son, the Archduke 



Louis XIV,— Old Age, 385 

Charles, King of Spain ; and Louis put forward Ms 
second grandson, Pliilip, Duke of Anjou. 

The Spaniards would have preferred Charles, but 
Louis was ready first. He made the Dauphin and 
Duke of Burgundy give up their right to Philip, 
saluted him as King of Spain, and sent him off with 
an army to Madrid, saying, "There are no more 
Pyrenees;" by which he meant that France and 
Spain were now to be like only one country. Now 
this was just what the rest of the world did not 
wish. France was a great deal too powerful al- 
ready, and nobody could be glad to see Spain and 
the Low Countries ruled over by a young man who 
was sure to do exactly what his grandfather bade 
him ; and so England and all the other States of 
Europe joined to assist the Archduke Charles in 
winning Spain. 

Thus began what was called the War of the 
Spanish Succession. The Archduke Charles went 
to Spain, and the English helped him there j and a 
French army invaded Germany, but there they met 
the English and Austrian armies, under the Duke 
of Marlborough and Prince Eugene of Savo}^ and 
were terribly defeated at Blenheim. 

The Prince Eugene's father had always lived in 
France, and his mother was a niece of Cardinal 



386 Young Folks' History of France, 

Mazarin ; but he and some other young men had 
grown tired of the dull court life, and had run 
away to fight in the Austrian army against the 
Turks. Louis had been very angry, and had had 
their letters seized ; and there he found himself 
laughed at, and called a stage king in peace, and a 
chess king in war. He was very angry, and never 
forgave Prince Eugene, who took service under the 
Emperor of Germany, and was the second-best 
general then in Europe. For all the great generals 
of Louis's youth were dead ; and though Marshals 
Villars and Bouf&ers were able men, they were not 
equal to Marlborough, and were beaten again and 
again in the Low Countries. The only victory the 
French did gain was in Spain, at Almanza, where, 
strangely enough, the English were commanded by 
a French Huguenot, and the French by Marl- 
borough's nephew, the Duke of Berwick, who had 
left home with James 11. 

But troubles came thick upon Louis XIV. He 
lost his only son, known in history as the Grand 
Dauphin, to distinguish him from the other two 
princes who successively bore that title in the reign 
of Louis XIV. ; and all his great men who had 
made his reign so splendid were dying round him, 
and nobody rising up equa] to them. His subjects, 



Louis XIV.— Old Age. 387 

too, were worn out ; all their strongest young men 
had been carried off to be soldiers, and there were 
not enough left to till the ground properly. Be- 
sides, the money that the king wanted for his wars 
and buildings was far more than they could pay, 
and it was the tradesmen, farmers, and lawyers 
who had to pay it all ; for in France no priest and 
no noble ever paid taxes. Moreover, all the family 
of a noble was considered as noble for ever, instead 
of, as it is in England, only the head of the house 
himself; and so all the younger sons and their 
children for ever paid no taxes, and were allowed 
to be of no profession, but only to be clergy or 
soldiers. They were always the ofiQcers, so that a 
soldier, however clever and brave, never could rise 
unless he was of good birth. People were getting 
very discontented, and especially when, instead of 
getting glory, they were always beaten, at Ramillies 
and Oudenarde and Malplaquet ; and Louis's build- 
ings and gardens at Versailles and Trianon heavily 
oppressed them. 

Old as Louis was, there was untamable pride and 
resolution in him, and his steadiness was admired 
even by his enemies, when he continued dauntlessly 
to resist even when there seemed little to hinder 
Marlborough aud Eugene from marching upon 



388 Young Folks* History of France. 



Paris. However, this humiliation was spared the 
f)roud old king by the change in Queen Anne's 
councils, which deprived Marlborough of power, 
and led to a peace at last with France. The Arch- 
duke Charles became emperor after the death of 
his father and brother ; and thus Philip of Anjou 
was allowed to remain King of Spain. 

Everything, however, was sad and mournful.at 
the French court. The king kept up all his old 
state, but his strength and spirit were gone ; and 
Madam de Maintenon used to say no one could 
guess what a dreadful thing it was to have to amuse 
an unamusable king. The brightest person at 
court was the young Dauphiness, Adelaide of 
Savoy, wife to the Duke of Burgundy, who was 
now Dauphin. She used to play merrily with the 
king, and coax him into cheerfulness as no one else 
could ; but she was giddy and gay, and sometimes 
grieved her husband. He was a grave, thoughtful 
man, very pious and religious, always trying to fol- 
low the counsels of his dear friend and master, 
F^n^lon, and thinking anxiously of the load that 
the kingdom would be in the state in which his 
grandfather would leave it. 

But he never had to bear that load. A dreadful 
form of malignant measles came into the court, and 




m- 




i^^^^l 


IN^^^fetoi^^S-'ll 




m 




m 




i 




DKATH OF LOULS XIV. 



Louis XIV, — Old Age. 891 

the Dauphiness caught it and died, then the eldest 
of her two little sons, and lastly, the good Dauphin 
himself. All were ill so very few days that people 
talked about poison ; and no one was left of the 
whole family except the old king and one little 
great-grandson, the Dauphin's second son, a baby 
not able to walk alone, and the king's nephew, 
Philip, Duke of Orleans, the son of his brother, 
who was known to be a very bad and selfish man. 

It was a sad prospect for France, when, a year 
later, Louis XIV. died, after a reign of seventy 
years, when he had been the greatest monarch in 
Europe, and might have been one of the grandest 
of men, if he had only known what true greatne.ss is. 



CHAPTER XXXVIII. 

LOUIS XV. 
1715— 17V4. 

THE poor little boy who had become King of 
France was so young that he could scarcely 
walk alone, and so forlorn that he had no kinsman 
near enough to take his hand when he was shown 
to the people, but had to be held in purple ribbon 
leading-strings. 

It was a sad reign altogether. The regent was the 
Duke of Orleans, a thoroughly dissipated man, not 
unlike the English Charles II., but worse in conduct, 
though quite as good-natured ; and the whole court 
became nothing but a sink of iniquity under him. 
He died just as the young king was growing up ; 
but the boy was slow, dull, and painfully shy — not 
at all fit to take the command of every thing, like 

Louis XIV. He had had a good tutor, Cardinal 

392 




^iIO/^jaT 



MAKIA LECZINSKA. 



Louis XV. 395 

Fleury, who was ruler for a little while, but soon 
died ; and then there was nothing to hinder the 
king from being drawn into all sorts of evil by 
the wicked men who had grown up in the time of 
the regent, Duke of Orleans. 

The queen was a Polish princess, named Maria 
Leczinska. She was a gentle, kindly person, though 
not at all clever, and at first the king was very fond 
of her ; but these wretches thought it dull to have 
a respectable court, and wanted to manage the king 
their own wa}^, so they taught him to be a gluttoii 
and a drunkard, and to think it witty to talk the 
low, coarse language of the vulgar crowd in Paris. 
The queen was shocked, and when she showed her 
offence, Louis was angry, and never cared for her 
again, but only showed himself with her in public, 
and spent all his spare time in the most disgraceful 
amusements. 

Yet the people, who did not know all as yet, had 
such a love and loyalty for the very name of king, 
that they were ready to break their hearts when he 
had a bad fever, and almost went mad with joy 
when lie recovered. They then called him Louis 
the Well-beloved, a name that sounded very sad in 
after times. 

There was a great war going on all this time be- 



396 Young Folk's History of France, 

tween Maria Theresa, the Queen of Hungary and 
Archduchess of Austria, and Frederick II., King 
of Prussia. The English held with the Austrians, 
and the French with the Prussians; and at the 
battle of Dettingen George II. had defeated the 
Marshal de Noailles. Again, at Fontenoy the Eng- 
lish were defeated ; and though Louis XV. was 
with the arm}', the victory was owing to his general, 
Marshal Saxe. The wars, however, pressed heavily 
on the French, and the poor were even more 
wretched than in the former reign. The Duke of 
Orleans, a good man, son to the wicked regent, one 
da}^ brought a horrible bit of black bread to the 
council to show the king what his subjects lived 
upon ; but nothing would make Louis care for any- 
body but himself. 

However, there was peace made for a little while, 
but what was called* the Seven Years' War soon 
broke out again ; but this time the English were 
with the Pruijsians and the French with the Aus- 
trians, and there was a great battle at Minden, 
which the French lost, and soon after there was a 
more lasting peace in Europe. 

But nothing could do the unfortunate kingdom 
of France any good while it had such a king as 
Louis XV., who had no feeling for any one but 




BATTLr: CF rr^xxrxoY. 



Louis XV. 399 

himself, and had such low tastes that he liked 
nothing but the basest, coarsest pleasures, and 
hated all that interfered with them. He had only 
one son, the Dauphin, who had grown up, in the 
midst of that wicked court, pure, upright, and 
pious, and lived a peaceful, quiet life with his good 
wife, a Polish princess ; but there was nobody the 
king disliked so much, because their goodness was 
a continual reproof, and he could not help think- 
ing that the people would rather have had the 
Dauphin for their king than himself. So the 
Dauphin was never allowed to take any part in 
business, and all he could do was to try to bring 
up his children well, and to help his four sisters, 
whom the king had scarcely educated at all, and 
who lived a very dull life in the palace, so that the 
happiest was Madame Louise, who became a nun. 

The good Dauphin died of a decline, when only 
thirty-six years old, leaving j&ve children, the 
eldest eleven years old ; and his wife followed him 
fifteen months after, begging her sisters-in-law to 
watch over her children. The king only grew 
worse than ever, and used to amuse himself by 
going in disguise to low dances among the Paris 
mob. Yet all the time he went every morning to 
church ; and among all the clergy in the country, 



400 Young Folks' History of France, 

only one good Bishop once dared to tell him what 
a sinner he was. There were still a great many 
good clergy, but it was only the bad ones who 
would not speak out about the wickedness at court 
who met with any favor. Half the people in the 
country were getting mad with misery ; and when 
they saw that the priests did nothing to rebuke all 
the crimes they suffered from, it seemed to them 
that even the Christian religion itself must be a 
mistake. There were a great many clever men at . 
that time, of whom the most noted were Voltaire 
and Rousseau, who wrote books that everyone was 
readings which made attacks on all Christianity, 
and pretended that the old heathen philosophers 
were much better and wiser than Christians ; and 
it was a strange thing that though Huguenots were 
still persecuted, and their religious books burnt, 
nobody meddled with these infidels, who had no 
religion at all. 

Everyone saw that a great storm was coming, 
and that there must be a terrible downfall of the 
royal power that Richelieu, Mazarin, and Louis 
XIY. had built up, and wliich Louis XV. used so 
shamefully ; but when he was told that there 
was danger, he only said the kingdom would last 
his time. His grandson, the young Dauphin, had 



I 



Louis XV. 401 

grown lip, and was married to the beautiful, bright 
young daughter of Maria Theresa — Marie Antoi- 
nette. The evening she arrived at Paris, there 
were grand illuminations and fireworks, and in the 
midst some terror seized the people that there Avas 
a fire, and they all rushed crowding together in 
the gates of the Champs Elysees, so that a number 
of them were trampled to death ; and this, though 
the poor young bride had nothing to do with it, 
made people feel that it had been a bad beginning. 
Louis XV. died at the age of sixty-four, in the 
year 1774, after a disgraceful reign of sixty years, 
in which he had constantly fallen deeper and 
deeper into the mire of sin and disgrace. 




CHAPTER XXXIX. 



LOUIS XVI. 



1774 — 1793. 



THE young king, Louis XVI., and his queen, 
Marie Antoinette,^ threw themselves on 
their knees when they heard that their grandfather 
was dead, crying out, *' O God ! help us ; we are 
too young to reign." 

It was as if thej^ knew what dreadful times were 

y402 




JLiOUlt iVl. 



Louis XVI. 405 

coming, brought on bj the selfishness and wicked- 
ness of those who had gone before them. Nobody 
could be more good or anxious to set things right 
than Louis XVI. ; but the evils that had been 
working up for hundreds of years could not be set 
to rights by one word, and it was hard to know 
how to begin. And though the king wished well 
to all, he was not a clever man, and could not see 
how to act. Besides, he was very shy and awk- 
ward ; he hated speaking to strangers, and was so 
confused that people went away offended ; and, 
besides, they were so much used to bad kings, that 
they could not believe that he was a good and 
innocent man. 

The queen gave offence in other ways. She 
was a young, merry girl, who had been brought up 
in a court where the habits were much more simple 
and less stately than those in France ; and she was 
always laughing at the formal court ways, and try- 
ing to get free from them. When the ladies came 
to pay their respects, some of her own attendants 
grew tired of standing round her, and sat down 
on the floor, hidden by the hobps of the others. 
She saw and nodded and smiled ; and the old 
ladies who were being presented thought she was 
making game of their dresses, and were very 



406 Young Folks' History of France. 

angry. Her chief lady of the bedchamber, the 
Duchess of Noailles, tried to keep her in order ; 
but she laughed, and gave the old lady the name 
of Madame I'Etiquette. When once she was 
riding a donkey, and it fell with her, she sat on 
the ground laughing till the duchess came up, and 
then said, " Pray, madame, when the queen and 
her donkey both tumble down together, which 
ought to be the first to get up ? " 

The great palace that Louis XIY. had adorned 
at Versailles was so grand that nobody could live 
in it in comfort. Even he had made a smaller one 
at Trianon, and this was too stately for the queen's 
tastes ; so she had another smaller house, with a 
farm and dairy, where she and her ladies used to 
amuse themselves, in white muslin dresses and 
straw hats ; but the people would not believe but 
that something very wrong went on there ; and 
hated her greatly because she was an Austrian, and 
her country had been at war with theirs. 

It was just then that the Americans began their 
war with George III., and a young French noble- 
man, the Marquis de la Fayette, ran away from 
home to fight in the army. Afterwards, Louis 
XVI. sent troops to help them ; and the sight of 
the freedom the United States had gained made 



Louis XVL 407 

Lafayette and his friends feel far more bitterly the 
state of things at home, where the poor were 
ground down to wretchedness by all the old rights 
of their lords ; and till the laws were changed, 
neither king, nobles, nor clergy, however much 
they might wish it, could help them. No one felt 
this more than the king himself. At last, in 1789, 
he called together his States-General — that is, all 
his peers, and deputies from the towns and prov- 
inces, to see what could be done. It was not like 
the English parliament, where the peers form one 
chamber and the commons another : but they were 
all mixed up together, and there were a great many 
more deputies than peers, so that they had it all 
their own way. Besides, they sat in the middle of 
Paris, and the people of the city could not bear to 
wait. Perhaps it was no wonder, for they were 
very poor and miserable, and were fierce with 
hunger. Whenever they saw anyone whom they 
fancied was against the changes, they used to fly 
at him, crjang out, " To the lamp ! " and hang him 
lip to the lamps, which were fastened by iron rods 
over the streets. 

They rushed to the great old prison, the Bastile, 
where the former kings had kept their State pris- 
oners, and tore it down; but they found hardly 



408 Young Folks' History cf France, 

anyone there, for Louis XVI. had released all his 
grandfather's prisoners. Most of the men were 
enrolled in what was called the National Guard, 
and all wore cockades, and scarfs of red, blue, and 
white. Lafayette was made general of this guard. 
The States-General called itself the National 
Assembly, and went on changing the laws. It 
was at first settled that no law could be passed 
without the king's consent ; but the notion that 
he could stop any plan added to the people's 
hatred, and they were always fancying he would 
bring his soldiers to stop the reforms. At last, 
when there was a scarcity of food in Paris, the mob 
all rushed out to Versailles, that most splendid of 
palaces, upon which Louis XIV. had spent so 
much, and whose iron gates looked down the long 
avenue of trees leading from Paris, a memorial 
how little pity for their people the two last kings 
had had. It was the less wonder that tlie mob of 
Paris believed that Louis XVI. and Marie Antoi- 
nette had the same hard hearts, and were willingly 
letting them starve. They came and filled the 
courts of the palace, shouting and yelling for the 
queen to show herself. She came out on the bal- 
cony, with her daughter of twelve years old and 
her son of six. " No children ! " they cried ; and 



Louis XVI. 409 

she sent them back, and stood, fully believing that 
they would shoot her, and hoping that her death 
might content themo But no hand was raised, and 
night came on. In the night they were seized with 
another fit of fury, and broke into the queen's 
room, from which she had but just escaped, while 
a brave lady and two of her guards were barring 
the outer door. 

The next day the whole family were taken back 
into Paris, while the fishwomen shouted before 
them, " Here come the baker, his wife, and the lit- 
tle baker's boy ! " 

The National Assembly went on to take away 
all the rights of the nobles, and the property of 
the Church, and to decree that the clergy must 
swear to obey them instead of the Church, while 
those who refused were turned out of their par- 
ishes. The National Guard watched the Tuileries, 
and made the life of the royal family so miserable 
that they tried to escape in disguise ; but fearing 
that they would come back with armies to put 
down the Revolution, the National Guard seized 
and stopped them, and they were more closely 
watched than ever. On the 20th of June, 1792, 
the mob rushed into the palace, threatened all the 
family , and spent three hours in rioting and insulting 



ilO Young Folks' History af France. 

them ; and on the 10th of August another attack was 
made. The queen longed to let the Swiss guards 
and the loyal gentlemen fight for her husband ; but 
Louis could not bear to have a drop of blood shed 
in his defence, and hoped to save life by going to the 
National Assembly with his wife, children, and 
sister ; but no sooner were they gone, than every 
one of the gallant men who would have defended 
him was savagely massacred, and their heads were 
carried about the streets of Paris on pikes. It 
was fear that made the Parisians so ferocious, for 
the German princes and the French nobles had 
collected an army to deliver the king, and, as the 
mob thought, to destroy them ; and in the bitter 
hatred that had now risen against all kings, the 
Assembly voted that Louis XVI. was no longer 
King of France, but that the nation was free. So 
his reign ended on the 10th of August, 1792. 



CHAPTER XL. 

THE GREAT FRENCH REVOLUTION. 

1792—1796. 

THE Government, after the king was deposed^ 
was placed in the hands of the National 
Assembly — or Convention, as it now called it- 
self — of deputies chosen by the people. 

There is nothing but what is sad and terrible to 
be told of France for the next four or five years, 
and the whole account of what happened woMd 
be too hard for you to understand, and some part is 
too dreadful to dwell upon. 

The short account of it is that, for years and 

years before, the kings, the nobles, and some of 

the clergy too, had cared for little but their own 

pride and pleasure, and had done nothing to help 

on their people — teach, train, or lead them. So 

now these people were wild with despair; and 

when the hold on them was a little loosened, the^' 

411 



412 Young Folks* History of France, 

threw it off, and turned in furious rage upon their 
masters. Hatred grew, and all those who had 
once been respected were looked on as a brood of 
wolves, who must be done away with, even the 
young and innocent. The king, queen, his chil- 
dren, and sister (Madame Elisabeth), were shut 
up in a castle called the Temple, because it had 
once belonged to the Knights Templars, and there 
they were very roughly and unkindly treated. A 
National Guard continually Watched them, and 
these men were often shockingly rude and insult- 
ing to them, though they were as patient as possi- 
ble. Great numbers of the nobles and clergy 
were shut up in the other prisons ; and when news 
came that an army of Germans and emigrant 
nobles was marching to rescue the king, a set of 
ruffians were sent to murder them all, cutting them 
down like sheep for the slaughter, men and women 
all alike. The family in the Temple were spared 
for the time, but the emigrant army was beaten at 
Jemappes; and the brave nobles and peasants who 
had risen in the district of La Vendue, in hopes of 
saving them, could not make head against the 
regular French arm}^, all of which had joined in 
the Revolution, being angered because no one not 
of noble birth could be an officer. All his friends 



The Great Fre7ieh Revolution, 415 

did for the king only served ta make his enemies 
hate him trebly ; and three men had obtained the 
leadership who seem to have had a regular thirst 
for blood, and to have thought that the only way 
to make a fresh beginning was to kill everyone 
Avho had inherited any of the rights that had been 
so oppressive. Their names were Marat, Danton, 
and Robespierre ; and the}^ had a power over the 
minds of the Convention and the mob which no 
one dared resist, so that this time was called the 
Reign of Terror. A doctor named Guillotin had 
invented a machine for cutting off heads quickly 
and painlessly, which was called hj his name ; and 
this horrible instrument was set up in Paris to do 
this work of cutting off the old race. The king 
— whom they called Louis Capet, after Hugh, the 
first king of his line — was tried before the 
Assembly, and sentenced to die. He forgave his 
murderers, and charged the Irish clergyman, named 
Edgworth, who was allowed to attend him in his 
last moments, to take care that, if his family were 
ever restored, there should be no attempt to 
revenge his death. The last words of the priest 
to him were, "Son of St. Louis, ascend to the 
skies." 

The queen and her children remained in the 



416 Young Folks' History of France, 

Temple, cheered by the piety and kindness of 
Madame Elisabeth, until the poor little prince — a 
gentle, but spirited boy of eight — was taken from 
them, and shut up in the lower rooms, under the 
charge of a brutal wretch (a shoemaker) named 
Simon, who was told that the boy was not to be 
killed or guillotined, but to be " got rid of " — 
namely, tormented to death by bad air, bad living, 
blows, and rude usage. Not long after, Marie 
Antoinette was taken to a dismal chamber in the 
Conciergerie prison, and there watched day and 
night by National Guards, until she too was 
brought to trial, and sentenced to die, eight months 
after her husband. Gentle Madame Elisabeth was 
likewise put to death, and only the two children 
remained, shut up in separate rooms ; but the girl 
was better off than her brother, in that she was 
alone, with her little dog, and had no one who 
made a point of torturing her. 

Meanwhile the guillotine was every day in 
use. Cart-loads were carried from the prisons — 
nobles, priests, ladies, young girls, lawyers, ser- 
vants, shopkeepers — everybody whom the savage 
men who were called the Committee of public 
Safety chose to condemn. There were guillotines 
in almost every town ; but at Nantes the victims 



The G-reat French Revolution. 417 

were drowned, and at Lyons they were placed in a 
square and shot down with grape shot. 

Moreover, all churches were taken from the 
faithful. A wicked woman was called the Goddess 
of Reason, and carried in a car to the great cathe- 
dral of Notre Dame, where she was enthroned. 
Sundays were abolished, and every tenth day was 
kept instead, and Christianity was called folly and 
superstition ; in short, the whole nation was given 
up to the most horrible frenzy against God and 
man. 

In the midst, Marat was stabbed to the heart by 
a girl named Charlotte Corday, who hoped thus to 
end these horrors ; but the other two continued 
their work of blood, till Robespierre grew jealous 
of Danton, and had him guillotined ; but at last 
the more humane of the National Convention 
plucked up courage to rise against him, and he and 
his inferior associates v/ere carried to prison. He 
tried to commit suicide with a pistol, but only 
shattered his jaw, and in this condition he was 
guillotined, when the Reign of Terror had lasted 
about two years. 

There was much rejoicing at his fall ; the prisons 
were opened, and people began to breathe freely 
once more. The National Convention governed 



418 Young Folks' History of France, 

more mildly and reasonably ; but they had a great 
deal on their hands, for France had gone to war 
with all the countries round ; and the soldiers 
were so delighted at the freedom they had obtained, 
that it seemed as if no one could beat them, so 
that the invaders were everywhere driven back. 
And thus was brought to light the wonderful 
powers of a young Corsican officer. Napoleon 
Bonaparte, who had been educated at a military 
school in France as an engineer. When there was 
an attempt of the mob to rise and bring back the 
horrible days of the Reign of Terror, Colonel 
Bonaparte came with his grape shot, and showed 
that there was a government again that must be 
obeyed, so that some quiet and good order was 
restored. 

Some pity had at last been felt for the poor chil- 
dren in the Temple. It came too late to save the 
life of the boy, Louis XVII., as he is reckoned, who 
had for the whole ninth year of his life lain alone 
in a filthy room, afraid to call anyone lest he should 
be ill-used, and without spirit enough to wash him- 
self, so that he was one mass of sores and dirt ; 
and he only lingered till the 8th of June, 1795, 
when he died, thinking he heard lovely music, 
with his mother's voice among the rest. In the 



The Great French Revolution, 419 

end of the same year his sister was released, and 
went to Russia to join her uncle, who had fled at 
the beginning of the Revolution, and was now 
owned by the loyal among the French as Louis 
XVIII. 

In the meantime, the French army had beaten 
the Germans on the frontier, and had decided on 
attacking their power in the north of Italy. Bona- 
parte made a most wonderful passage of the Alps, 
where there were scarcely any roads but bridle- 
paths, and he gained amazing victories. His plan 
was to get all the strength of his army up into one 
point, as it were, and with that to fall upon the 
centre of the enemy ; and as the old German gen- 
erals did not understand this way of fighting, and 
were not ready, he beat them everywhere, and won 
all Lombardy, which he persuaded to set up for a 
republic, under the protection of the Freuch. 

All this time, the French were under so many 
different varieties of government, that 3"0U would 
not understand them at all ; but that which lasted 
longest was called the Directory. People were be- 
ginning to feel safe at last ; the emigrants were 
coming home again, and matters were settling down 
a little more. 



CHAPTER XLI. 

NAPOLEON I. 

1796—1814. 

WHEN Bonaparte liad come back from Italy, 
he persuaded the Directory to send him 
with an army to Egypt to try to gain the East, and 
drive the English out of India. He landed in 
Egypt, and near Grand Cairo gained the battle of 
the Pyramids, and tried to recommend himself to 
the people of Egypt by showing great admiration 
for Mahomet and the Koran. But his ships, which 
he had left on the coast, were attacked by the 
English fleet, under Sir Horatio Nelson, and every 
one of them taken or sunk except two, which car- 
ried the tidings home. This was the battle of the 
Nile. 

The Sultan of Turkey, to whom Egypt belonged, 
fitted ont an army against the French, and Bona- 

420 



Napoleon I. 421 

parte marched to meet it half-way in the Holy Land. 
There he took Jaffa, cruelly massacred the Turkish 
garrison, and beat the Sultan's army at Tabor ; but 
Acre was so bravely and well defended, under the 
management of a brave English sailor. Sir Sidney 
Smith, that he was obliged to turn back without 
taking it. He led his troops back, suffering sadly 
from hunger and sickness, to Egypt, and there de- 
feated another Turkish army in the battle of Aboa- 
kir. However, he there heard news from home 
which showed him that he was needed. The 
French had, indeed, gone on to stir up a revolution 
both in Rome and Naples. The Pope was a pris- 
oner in France, and the King of Naples had fled to 
Sicily ; but the Russians had come to the help of 
the other nations, and the French had nearly been 
driven out of Lombardy. Besides, the Directory 
was not able to keep the unruly people in order ; 
and Napoleon felt himself so much wanted, that, 
finding there were two ships in the port, he em- 
barked in one of them and came home, leaving his 
Egyptian arrny to shift for themselves. 

However, he was received at home like a con- 
queror ; and the people of France were so proud of 
him, that he soon persuaded them to change the 
P^rectory for a government of three consuls, of 



422 Young Folks* History of France. 

whom he was the first. He lived in the Tuileries, 
and began to keep something very like the old 
court' and his Avife, Josephine, A^as a beautiful, 
graceful, kind lady, Avhom every one loved, and 
who helped A^ery much in gaining people over to 
his cause. Indeed, he gave the French rest at 
home and victories abroad, and that was all they 
desired. He Avon back all that had been lost in 
Italy ; and the battle of Marengo, on the 14th of 
June, 1800, Avhen the Austrians Avere totally routed, 
was a splendid victory. Austria made peace again, 
and nobody Avas at war with France but England, 
which conquered everywhere by sea, as France did 
by land. The last remnant of the French army in 
Egypt was beaten at Alexandria, and obliged to let 
the English ships transport them to France ; and 
after this there was a short peace called the Peace 
of Amiens, but it did not last long ; and as soon as 
Bonaparte had decided on Avar, he pounced without 
notice on every English traveller in his dominions, 
and kept them prisoners till the end of the war. 

He had made up his mind to be Emperor of the 
French, and before declaring this, he wanted to 
alarm the old royalists ; so he sent a party to seize 
the Duke d'Enghien (heir of the Princes of Cond<^), 
who was living at Baden, and conduct him to Vin- 




THh 1 L ILl.Khlts. 



Napoleon L 425 

cennes, where, at midnight, he was tried by a sham 
court-martial, and at six in the morning brought 
down to the court-yard, and shot beside his own 
graye. 

After this, every one was afraid to utter a whis- 
per against Bonaparte becoming emperor, and on the 
second of December, 1804, he was crowned in Notre 
Dame, with great splendor. The Pope was present, 
but Bonaparte placed the crown on his own head — 
a golden wreath of laurel leaves ; and he gave his 
soldiers eagle standards, in memory of the old 
Roman empire. He drew up an excellent code of 
laws, which have been used ever since in France, 
and are known by his name ; and his wonderful 
talent did much to bring the shattered nation into 
order. Still, England would not acknowledge his 
unlawful power, and his hatred to her was very 
great. He had an army ready to invade England, 
but the English fleet never allowed him to cross the 
Channel ; and his fleet was entirely destroyed by 
^ Lord Nelson, at the great battle of Trafalgar, on 
the 21st of October, 1805. 

But Napoleon was winning another splendid vic- 
tory at Ulm, over the Austrians; and not long 
after, he beat the Prussians as entirely at Jena, and 
had all Germany at his feet. Pie was exceedingly 



426 Young Folks" History of France, 

harsh and savage to the good and gentle Queen 
Louisa, when she came with her husband to try to 
make better terms for her country, thus sowing 
seeds of bitter resentment which were to bear fruit 
long after. The Russians advanced to the aid of 
Germany, but the battles of Eylau and Friedland 
made them also anxious for peace. There never, 
indeed, was a much abler man than Napoleon ; but 
he had no honor, honesty or generosity, and had 
very little heart amid all his seeming greatness. He 
made his family kings of conquered countries. His 
brother Louis was King of Holland ; Jerome, of 
"Westphalia, and the eldest brother, Joseph, King 
of Naples ; but in 1808 he contrived to cheat the 
King of Spain of his crown, and keep him and his 
son prisoners in France, while Joseph was sent to 
reign in Spain, and General Murat, the husband of 
his sister Caroline, was made king of Naples. The 
Portuguese royal family were obliged to flee away 
to Brazil ; but the Spaniards and Portuguese would 
not submit to the French yoke, and called the En- 
glish to help them. So 3'ear after year the Duke of 
Wellington was beating Napoleon's generals, and 
wearing away his strength ; but he still went on 
uith his German wars, and in 1809, after two ter- 
rible battles at Aspern and Wagram, entered 



Napoleon I, 427 

Vienna itself. Again there wa§ a peace ; and Napo- 
leon, who was grieved to have no child to leave his 
empire to, had the wickedness and cruelty to de- 
cide on setting aside his good, loving Josephine, 
and making the Emperor Francis of Austria give 
him his young daughter, Marie Louise. In ISIO^ 
the deed was done ; and it was said that from that 
time all his good-fortune left him, though he had 
one little son born to him, whom he called King of 
Rome. 

He set out with what he named the Grand Army, 
to conquer Russia ; and after winning the battle of 
Borodino, he entered Moscow ; but no sooner was 
he there than the whole town was on fire, and it 
burnt on, so that it was not possible to stay there. 
Winter was just coming on, the Russian army was 
watching everywhere, and he could only retreat ; 
and the unhappy Grand Army, struggling in the 
snow, with nothing to eat, and beset by the enemy 
everywhere, suffered the most frightful misery. 
Napoleon left it in the midst, and hurried home ; 
but no sooner had this blow been given him, than 
all the Germans — the Prussians especially, to wliom 
he had been so harsh — rose up and banded together 
against him. France was worn out with the long 
wars ; and though Napoleon still showed wonderful 



428 Young FolW History of France, 

skill, especially at the battle of Leipzic, lie was driven 
back, inch by inch, as it were, across Germany, 
and into France, by the Emperors of Austria and 
Russia and King of Prussia ; for though each battle 
of his was a victory, force of numbers was too 
much for him. He went to the palace of Fon- 
tainebleau, and tried to give up his crown to his 
little son, but the Allies would not accept this ; and 
at last, in the spring of 1814, he was forced to yield 
entirely, and put himself into the hands of the 
English, Prussian, Russian, and Austrian sover- 
eigns. They decided on sending him to a little isle 
called Elba, in the Mediterranean Sea, where he 
was still to be treated as a prince. His deserted 
wife Josephine loved him so much that she' died of 
grief for his fall ; but Marie Louise returned to hei 
father, and did nothing to help him. 



CHAPTER XLII. 

LOUIS XYJII. 
1814-1824. 

THE Allies had entered Paris — Russians, 
Anstrians, and Prussians — and the Duke of 
Wellington, after winning the battle of Toulouse, 
came up from the south to meet them there. 

It was left to the French to decide what gov- 
ernment they would have ; and those who loved 
the old royalty took the lead, and inrited back the 
brothers of their king, Louis XYIII and Charles, 
Count of Artois, whose eldest son, the Duke of 
Angouleme, was married to Marie Therese, the 
only survivor of the prisoners of the Temple. 

Louis XYIII. was a clever, cunning old man by 
this time, and meant to do what he could to con- 
tent the French and keep the peace; but the 
Count of Artois was stiff and haughty, and tha 
poor Duchess of Angouleme so grave and s^ that 

429 



430 Young Folks' History of France, 

she could not exert herself to please and amuse 
the people. There was much discontent at the 
changes that had to be made, and at the giving up 
of all that IS^apoleon had robbed other countries of 
and p'iven to France. He had carried off all the 
best pictures and statues wherever he went, and 
set them up in the Louvre ; and these were all 
sent home to their right owners. The lands that 
he had taken were to be restored ; and ministers 
from all the Allies met at the Congress of Vienna 
to settle how this should be done. 

Full in the midst came the news, like a thunder- 
bolt, that Napoleon had escaped from Elba, and 
landed in France on the 27th of February, 1815. 
No soldier who had served under him would fight 
against him. The army threw away the white 
flag, and shouted his name in ecstasy. Louis 
XVIII. was obliged to flee to Belgium ; and in a 
very short time Napoleon seemed as powerful as 
ever. But the Allies were collecting their forces 
against him ; and England and Prussia, as being 
the nearest, first had their armies ready near 
Brussels. Napoleon hoped to beat them before 
Austria and Russia could come to their help, and 
marched thither with all speed in the beginning of 
June. Four days of battles with the Prussians 




RATTLE OF WATERLOO. 



Louis XVm. 433 

left matters undecided ; but on the 18th of June, 
1815, the Duke of Wellington, assisted by the 
Prussians, gave the French an overwhelming 
defeat at Waterloo, and marched direct on Paris ; 
while Napoleon, after vainly seeking shelter, went 
at last to Rochefort, and there finding it impossible 
to escape to America, gave himself up to the cap- 
tain of an English ship, the Bellerophon. He was 
taken to Plymouth harbor, and remained on board 
until his fate was decided by the Allied Sover- 
eigns, who determined to send him where he 
should not again escape to disturb all Europe ; and 
he was therefore placed in the little lonely island 
of St. Helena, in the midst of the Atlantic Ocean, 
under the custody of an English governor, who 
was to see him every da3'. He fretted and chafed 
in his confinement ; and the governer (Sir Hudson 
Lowe) was continually anxious, and therefore 
seemed harsh and insulting to him in the fallen 
pride that did not know how to be really great. 
After six miserable years, Napoleon died, in 1821, 
of cancer in the stomach, and was buried under 
the willow trees of Longwood, in St. Helena. 

Of course his brothers and sisters had all been 
put down from the thrones he had given them. 
Murat tried to recover Naples, but was taken and 



434 Young Folks' History of France, . 

shot ; but the others subDiitted quietly, haying 
never much enjoyed their honors. Marie Louise 
had a little Italian duchy given to her, and her 
son was called the Duke of Keichstadt, and 
brought up at the court of his grandfather, the 
Emperor of Austria. He died in early youth, 
and the person who cared the most for the great- 
ness of the Bonaparte name was Louis Napoleon, 
son to Louis, once King of Holland, and of 
Hortense Beauharnais, the daughter of Josephine 
by her first marriage. 

Meantime, the English army had remained for 
three 3^ears in France, to assist Louis XYIII. in 
case of any fresh outbreak ; and Marshal Nej', the 
foremost of the generals who had gone over to 
Napoleon, was tried by court-martial and shot. 
^? Imost everybody else was forgiven ; and Prince 
Talle^^rand, one of the cleverest and most cunning 
men who ever lived, who had risen under Napo- 
leon, worked on still with Louis XYIII. 

It was the saying in France that in their exile 
the Bourbons had learnt nothing and forgotten 
nothing. This was not quite true of Louis XVIII. , 
who was clever in an indolent way, and resolved 
to please the people enough to remain where he 
was till his death, and really gave them a very 



Louis XVIIL 435 

good charter ; only he declared he gave it to them 
by his free grace as their king, and they wanted 
him to acknowledge that the}^ had forced it from 
royalty by the Revolution. But his brother Charles, 
Count of Artois, was much more strongly and 
openly devoted to the old waj-s that came before 
the Revolution, and, as Louis had no children, his 
accession was dreaded. His eldest son, the Duke 
of Angouleme, had no children ; and his second 
son, the Duke of Berri, who was married to a Nea- 
politan princess, was the most amiable and hopeful 
person in the family ; but on the 12th of Februar}^, 
1820, he was stabbed by a wretch called Louvet, as 
he was leaving the opera, and died in a few hours. 
His infant son, Henry, Duke of Bordeaux, was the 
only hope of the elder branch of the Bourbons. 

France was worn out arid weary of war, so that 
little happened in this reign, except that the Duke 
of Angouleme made an expedition tg assist the 
King of Spain in putting down an insurrection. 
The French nobility had returned to all their titles ; 
but many of them had lost all their property in 
the Revolution, and hung about the court, much 
needing ofBces and employments ; while all the 
generation who had grown up among the triumphs 
of Napoleon, looked ^th contempt and dislike at 



486 Young Folks^ History of France. 

the endeavor to revive old habits and ways of 
thinking. 

Louis XVIII. was in failing health, but he kept 
up much of the old state of the French court, and 
was most careful never to keep any one waiting, 
for he used to say, " Punctuality is the politeness 
of kings." Even when very ill, he would never 
give up any of the court ceremonies ; and when 
urged to spare himself, said, " A king of France 
ought to die standing ; but for some years he was 
unable to walk, being dreadfully tormented by the 
gout, and he was obliged to let his brother manage 
his affairs. But he, was shrewd enough to dread 
the Count of Artois' desire to return to the old 
times of the overgrown royal power ; and when he 
found himself dying, lie put his hand on the head 
of his little four years' old great-nephew, Henry, 
and said to his brother, " Let Charles X. take care 
of the crown for this child." He died in Septem- 
ber, 1824. 



CHAPTER XLIII. 

CHAHLES X, 

1824—1830. 

WHEN Charles X. had been the young Count 
of Artois, before the Revolution, he had 
been gaj, lively, and thoughtless — a playfellow of 
Marie Antoinette in those bright, giddy days when 
she had caused so much, ill-will. After all his exile 
and wanderings, and in his old age, he had become 
very religious ; but not in a wise way, for he was 
guided entirely by the Pope and a few clergy, who 
wanted to bring things back to what they were be- 
fore the Revolution. It was just the same with the 
State. His ministers were trying to get back the 
old power of the crown, and this made every one 
discontented and jealous, tbougb France had a 
share in two victories in his time. 

The first was made on behalf of the Greeks, 

437 



438 Young Folks'^ History of France. 

who had long been trying to break away from the 
rule of the Turks ; and at last the Prussian, English, 
and French fleets joined' and defeated the Turka 
and Egyptians at the battle of Nayarino ; after 
which, Greece was able to become a kingdom under 
Christian rule. 

The other was to clear the Mediterranean Sea of 
the Moorish robbers who had infested it for centu- 
ries past. Ships came from the African ports, es- 
pecially Algiers, and fell upon any merchant vessel 
they couhl seize, taking the goods and carrying the 
crew and passengers off into slavery". Even the 
coasts of France, Spain, and Italy were not safe ; 
and people were continually carried off, and set to 
work for the Moors, until they were ransomed by 
their friends in Europe. But in 1830 the English and 
French fleets united to attack this nest of pirates, 
and gained a grand victory, which put an end to 
all further sea robberies in the Mediterranean. 

But no one was pleased by the victory, for the 
doings of the king and his ministers enraged the 
public, and the newspapers found great fault with 
them, and accused them of all sorts of impossible 
tilings. On this, on the 26th of July, 1830, the 
king put an edict putting an end to the liberty of 
the press — that is, forbidding anything to appear 



Charles X, 43& 

in any newspaper withoufc being approved by the 
government. Some other edicts were also madej 
which offended the people so much that there was 
a frightful disturbance at Paris. Every one begged 
the king to change his mind, and withdraw the 
edicts ; but he thought it was yielding that had 
ruined his brother Louis XVI., and nothing would 
persuade him to give way, till too late, when for 
what are called the " three days of July" there had 
been fighting throughout Paris, and his troops had 
been broken and driven out by the National Guard. 
Then he did consent ; but the people would not be 
satisfied without dethroning him, and he was obliged 
to leave France again, taking with him his son and 
daughter-in-law (the last Dauphin and Dauphiness), 
and his grandson, the little Henry. They lived 
first in Scotland, and afterwards in Italy and in 
Germany ; and while all the old loyal French still 
viewed Charles, and after his death, his grandson, 
Henry V., as they have always called him, as the 
only true kings of France. 

The Marquis de la Fayette, who had been one of 
the first movers in the old Revolution, had lived to 
assist in this, the Revolution of 1830, a far less 
bloody and mischievous one. Some of the French 



440 Young Folks' History of France. 

wanted to have another republic, but most of them 
wished to try a limited monarchy, like that of 
England, with a king at the head, but without 
power to do anything without the consent of the 
subjects. They resolved to put at the head of their 
new constitution the Duke of Orleans. He was 
of the Bourbon royal blood, for he was descended 
from Louis XIV.'s brother, the Duke of Orleans, 
and from the wicked regent of the childhood of 
Louis XV. After these two, there had been two 
quiet dukes, not noted for much, but the fifth had 
been vehement in the cause of the Revolution. 
He had given up his title of Duke of Orleans, and 
called himself Citizen Philip Egalite, or Equality, 
and he had even voted for the death of Louis XYL , 
but when, in the Reign of Terror, everyone who 
had any high birth was put to death, he was guillo- 
tined. His eldest son, Louis Philippe, had been 
brought up by a very clever governess. Madam de 
Genlis, who wrote the " Tales of the Castle," and 
many other books for children; and she made a 
great point of his learning many useful habits 
which princes had thought quite beneath them. 
He served in the French army till his father, 
mother, and younger brothers were thrown into 



Charles X. 441 

Drison, and lie was obliged to earn his bread as a 
teacher in a school. Afterwards he came to Eng- 
land, where his brothers joined him ; but they both 
fell into declines and died, one in England, and 
the other at Malta, where Louis Philippe had taken, 
him for his health. Next he travelled in America, 
and there, when he had a bad fall from his wagon 
in a little lonely settlement, took out his own 
lancet, and bled himself so dextrously, that the 
people begged him to remain and be their doctor. 
At the Restoration, he came back to France, 
with his wife, Marie Amelie, the daughter of the 
King of Naples, and his sister Adelaide, both very 
good and clever women. They brought up their 
large family at the Palais Royal, and were very 
kind and sensible people, though all along there 
were many who thought he was scheming to get 
the people's favor away from King Charles X. 
Whether this were true or not is not certain. 
At any rate, when Charles fled, the leaders of the 
nation all agreed to offer the crown to the Duke 
of Orleans, but it was not to be as an old heredi- 
tary monarch. He was not to be King of France, 
but King of the French; he was not to be Louis 
XIX., but Louis Philippe I. ; and his eldest son 



442 Young Folks'* History of France. 

was not to be Dauphin, but Duke of Orleans ; and 
his power was to be bounded by peers and depu- 
ties, much, as the power of the English king is 
bounded by the peers and commons. 

This was the Revolution of the " three days of 
July," 1830. 



CHAPTER XL 

LOUIS PHILIPPE. 

1830-1848. 



LOUIS PHILIPPE of Orleans began prosper-- 
ously. He was called the Citizen King, and 
used the tricolored flag of the old Revolution 
instead of the white one of the Bourbons, and the 
cock of Gaul instead of the old blue shield with 
gold fleurs-de-lys, to show that he reigned not as a 
son of the old royal family, but by the choice of 
the people. Tliere was a chamber of peers and a 
chamber of deputies ; and the constitution was a 
limited monarchy. 

Much was done to please the people, and much 
to make them prosperous. Railways and steam- 
boats came in, and manufactures began to flourish, 
more especially the Aveaving of silk at Lyons ; and 
though the French have never made articles as 

strong and useful as the English do, they have 

443 



444 Young Folks' History of France. 

much better taste, and all that is gay and elegant 
is better finished there ; so that Paris grew more 
and more to be the chief mart for dress and orna- 
ment in the world. 

Almost all the colonies the French had once 
made had been lost in wars since the time of Louis 
XI Y. ; and Louis Philippe thought it would be 
well to form new ones, and to get the navy into 
good order again. So a settlement was ma,de in 
Algeria ; but it caused a long and fierce war with 
the Arab chiefs, which lasted nearly throughout 
the reign ; for no sooner had a grant of land been 
made, and brought into good order, than the Arabs 
would fall u[)on the farm in the night, and burn^ 
destroy, and plunder. Guards of soldiers had to 
be kept in the forts all round the border ; and 
there was much terrible fighting, for the Arabs 
were as brave as the French themselves, and had a 
most gallant chief, named Abd-el-Kader. At last, 
however, after years of fighting, he was forced to 
surrender himself a prisoner, and was taken to 
France ; but this was not till quite at the end of 
the reign of Louis Philippe, though I have told 
you about it all at once. ^ 

The French also tried to make settlements in 
the Pacific islands, especially New Caledonia and 



Louis Philippe, 445 

the island of Taliiti. They were not at all wel- 
come in this last, for the native queen, Pomar^, 
had been taught to be a Christian bj.the English, 
and did not wish for French protection or Roman 
Catholic teaching. However, the French were 
the strongest, and have taken the management 
there, though the island still professes to be under 
its own government. 

Louis Philippe did his utmost to keep the Paris- 
ians in good humor, knowing that he could only 
reign by their favor ; and as the miseries of the 
old wars were forgotten, and the French only 
thought of the victories of the times of Napoleon, 
praising him as the greatest of heroes, the king 
gratified them by requesting the English to allow 
him to bring home the corpse of the Emperor from 
St. Helena, and bury it in the Church of the 
Invalides, a great asylum for old soldiers at Paris. 
It was fetched in a man-of-war by the king's sailor 
son, the Prince de Joinville, and brought to Paris 
in a triumphal car, which was followed through 
the streets by Louis Philippe and his sons, A 
chapel was built, and ornamented with splendid 
marbles, for the burials of the Bonaparte family. 
Napoleon's little son was dead, but his brother 



446 Young Folks' History of France. 

Louis had left a son, who was living in exile in 
England or Germany. 

Do what he would, Louis Philippe could not 
prevent a great deal of discontent among the 
Bonapartists on the one hand, and the Repub- 
licans on the other. The richer the shopkeepers 
and merchants grew, and the more show they made, 
the bitterer was the hatred of the workmen, who 
said that everybody ought to be equal not only in 
rank but in property ; and these men used red 
alone, instead of the tricolor, for their badge. A 
horrible conspiracy was made by some wretches, 
of w^hom the chief was named Fieschi, for destro3'-- 
ing the king, as he rode out, by what was called 
the Infernal Machine, which was like a whole bat- 
tery of guns fired off in a moment. The king was 
not hurt, but fourteen people were killed, of whom 
one was an old marshal of Napoleon's. The men 
were traced and seized, and Fieschi was put to 
death. 

The queen, Marie Amelie of Naples, was one of 
the best women who ever lived, and did all she 
could to promote goodness and piety. So did the 
king's prime minister M. Guizot, who was one of a 
staunch old Huguenot family ; but the Republi- 
can dislike to having religion taught in schools 



Louis Philippe, 449 

hindered the grovvth of good; and there were 
a great number of unbelievers, though there were 
good and holy men struggling with the evil. 
There were always many parties. There were the 
Legitimists, who ^dewed first Charles X., and then 
his grandson, Henry V., the Count of Chambord, 
as the only true kino^, and would take no office 
under Louis Philippe : and there were the Bona- 
partists and the Red Republicans, as well as the 
Moderate ones, who held by the king. 

The king had five sons, of whom the eldest, the 
Duke of Orleans, was much loved and looked up 
to. He married the Princess Helen of Mecklen- 
burg Schwerin, and they had had two little sons, 
before he was unhappily killed by leaping out of 
his open carriage while the horses were running 
away. 

It is a curious thing that the power of a French 
sovereign always seems to melt away as soon as 
he shows any designs upon Spain. The king, 
Ferdinand YIL, whom Kapoleon kept so long in 
prison, had left two little daughters ; and as they 
grew up, Louis Philippe interfered about their 
marriages in a way that caused much displeasure. 
He could only gain the younger one for his son, 
the Duke of Montpensier ; but he was thought to 



450 Young Folks' History of France, 

be grasping at the crown for him, and this made 
everj^one jealous. A little later, a nobleman, the 
Duke de Praslin, horrified all Europe by murder- 
ing his wife. He was, of course, condemned to 
death, but he put an end to his own life in prison, 
and the E,ed Republicans fancied that he must 
have been allowed the means, in order that there 
might not be a public execution of a nobleman ; 
and this added to the discontent and hatred of 
poor against rich that had been growing every 
year. 

At last, in February, 1848, after the council and 
the chambers of deputies had decided against some 
measures much desired by the people, there was a 
rising of the mob throughout Paris. The troops 
were drawn up, and the National Guard ; but 
when the moment came for action, the National 
Guard would not fire, but made common cause 
with the people. The army would still have 
fought, but Louis Philippe would not have blood 
shed for him. He sent a message that he abdi- 
cated in favor of his little grandson, the Count of 
Paris, with his mother, the Duchess of Orleans, as 
regent. Then he left the Tuileries privately, and 
under the name of William Smith, safely reached 
England. 



Louis Philippe, * 451 

The Duchess of Orleans bravely came forward 
to the people with her two boys, but there was no 
shout in her favor, only angry looks, and her 
friends saw it was all in vain, and hurried her 
away as fast as they could. All the family made 
their way by different means, one by one, to Eng- 
land, where the queen and her people received 
them as kindly as warm hearts always welcome the 
unfortunate. Claremont Palace was lent to them 
as a dwelling-place, and there Louis Philippe and 
his good queen spent the remainder of their lives. 
He died in the year 1849, and Amdlie a few years 
later. 



CHAPTER XLV» 

THE REPUBLIC. 

1848-1852. 

AFTER Louis Philippe and his family had 
lied from France, there was a time of con- 
fusion. An assembly of deputies met from all 
parts of France to arrange a fresh government ; 
and a very clever poet and author, named Lamar- 
tine, at first tried to bring about something like 
order, but he was not strong enough, and there 
was a great deal of tumult and disorder. 

In truth, the Red Republicans, who did not want 
to see anyone richer than themselves, were very 
much disappointed that, though noblemen and 
gentlemen had no more rights than other people, 
yet still rich men kept their money and estates; 
and though all sorts of occupations were devised 
at Paris, for which they were highly paid, in hopes 
of keeping them quiet and contented, they only 

452 



The Republic. 453 

became more fierce and violent. They had devised 
a way of fortifying the streets, by seizing on all 
the carts, carriages, and cabs they could lay hands 
on, and fastening them together with ropes, so as 
to form a line across the street. Then they pulled 
up the paving-stones, and built them up, banking 
them up with earth, and thus making what they 
caUed a barricade. And when the top and back 
of this was thronged with men and boys armed 
with muskets, it was almost impossible to dislodge 
them. 

In the end of June, 1848, there were three 
dreadful days of barricades. It was really a fight 
of the Red Republicans against the Tricolored. 
Liberty, Fraternity, and Equality were the watch- 
words of them both; but the ReJ Republicans 
meant much more than the Tricolored by these 
words, for they thought liberty was no order at 
all, and equality was that no person should be 
better off than the rest. The good Archbishop of 
Paris, Monseigneur Affre, going out on one of 
these miserable days to try to make peace, was 
shot through the back from behind a barricade, 
and died in a few hours. 

However, General Cavaignac, one of the brave 
men who had been trained to war by the fighting 



454 Young Folks' History of France. 

in Algeria, so managed the soldiers and the 
National Guard that they put down the Red 
Republicans, and restored order, though not with- 
out shedding much blood, and sending many into 
exile. 

Indeed, the two years 1847 and 1848 were un- 
quiet all over Europe. Much that had been 
settled at the Congress of Vienna, in 1814, after 
Napoleon had been overthrown, had been done 
more as if estates were being carved out than as if 
what was good for the people was considered ; and 
there had been distress and discontent ever since, 
especially in Italy, where all the north was under 
the Emperor of Austria, and his German officers 
were very rough and disagreeable in the towns 
where they were quartered. 

The Italians rose, and tried to shake them off by 
the help of the King of Sardinia ; and at the same 
time there was a great rising against the Pope, Pius 
IX., at Rome. The Popes had held Rome for 
more than a thousand years, and there ruled the 
Western Church ; but they had never been very 
good princes to their Roman subjects, and things 
had fallen into a sad state of confusion, which, 
when first he was chosen, Pius IX. had tried to 
improve ; but his people went on too fast for him, 



The Republic, 455 

and at last rose up and so alarmed him that he fled 
in the disguise of a servant behind an Austrian 
carriage. 

Now, the Roman Catholics think the Pope can- 
not rule over the Church freely unless he has Home 
quite of his own, and lives there as a prince, 
instead of only as a Bishop in a country belonging 
to some one else. And though there were so many 
in France who had not much faith in anything, yet 
there were a good many honest, religious people, 
who were very anxious to have him back, and said 
tliat it mattered more that he should govern the 
Church than that the Romans should be well off. 

So a French army was sent to restore him ; and 
the Italians were grievously disappointed, for, the 
Austrians were putting them down in the north, 
and they thought Republicans bound to help them. 
But Rome was taken, and the Pope had his throne 
again ; and a strong guard of French soldiers were 
placed in Rome, for without such help he could no 
longer have reigned. 

The French at home were in more parties than 
ever. The Red Republicans still wanted to over- 
throw everything ; the Moderate ones cared chiefly 
to keep peace and order ; the Bonapartists longed 
to have another empire like Napoleon's ; the 



456 Young Folks' History of France. 

Orleanists wished to bring back the Count of 
Paris, grandson of Louis Philippe ; and the Legit- 
imists still held fast by Henry V., the son of the 
murdered Duke of Berri, and the natural king by 
birth. Never was there such a house divided 
against itself ; but, in truth, the real fear was of 
the Ked Republicans. All the rest were ready to 
be quiet, and submit to anything so long as these 
could be kept down. 

After much deliberating in the Assembly, it was 
settled to have a republic, with a president as the 
Americans have. Then Louis Napoleon Bona- 
parte, the son of Napoleon's brother Louis, offered 
himself as president, and was elected, all the quiet 
people and all the Bonapartists joining in the 
choice. Most of the army were Bonapartists, for 
the sake of the old victories of Napoleon ; and 
when Algeria was quieted, and they came home, 
Louis Napoleon had a great power in his hands. 
Soon he persuaded the people to change his title 
from president to that of first consul, as his uncle 
had once been called ; and then everyone began to 
see what would follow, but most were glad to have 
a strong hand over them, to give a little peace and 
rest after all the changes. 

And the next time there was any chance of a 



The Republic, 457 

disturbance at Paris, Louis Napoleon was before- 
hand with the mob. He surrounded them with 
soldiers, had cannon planted so as to command 
every street, and fired upon the mob before it had 
time to do any harm, then captured the ringlead- 
ers, and either had them executed or sent into 
banishment. Some violence and crueltythere cer- 
tainly was, but the Parisians were taught whom 
they must obey, and quiet people were grateful. 
This master stroke is always called the coup d'etat 
or stroke of policy, for it settled affairs for the 
time ; and after it Louis Napoleon did as he chose, 
for no one durst resist him. 



CHAPTER XLVI. 



THE SECOND EMPIRE. 



1852—1870. 



IN the beginning of the year 1852, the whole of 
the French nation was called upon to decide by 
vote whether they would form an empire again, or 
continue to be a republic. Every man rich or 
poor, who was not a convict, had a vote ; and the 
larger number decided for the empire, and for Louis 
Napoleon Bonaparte as the emperor. He considered 
himself as the successor of his uncle, and therefore 
called himself Napoleon III., counting the little 
child in whose favor the great Bonaparte had ab- 
dicated at Fontainebleau as the second Napoleon. 
He married a Spanish lady of high rank, but not 
royal, whose mother was Scottish. Her name was 
Eugenie de Montijo, and she was one of the most 
lovely women of her time. She was pious and 

kind-hearted, and always ready to do anything 

458 



The Second Empire, 459 

good ; but it was thought that the court would be 
more popular, and trade prosper more, if an exam- 
ple w*as set of great splendor and magnificence. 
So the ladies were encouraged to dress in a style 
of extravagance and brilliancy, with perpetual 
changes of fashion ; and this, as the Parisian dresses 
are always the models of those of other countries, 
has led to much folly iu all grades of society every- 
where. One son was born of this marriage, who 
was called the Prince Imperial. 

The emperor ruled w4th a strong hand, but he 
got everything into order again, and he made Paris 
more beautiful than ever, throwing down old nar- 
row streets, and building grand new ones, which, 
for the most part, had asphalt pavement, so that 
there might be no paving-stones to take up and 
make into barricades. He took away a good 
many of the places to which old historical remem- 
brances were attached ; and it has never seemed 
plain whether he did so for the sake of sweeping 
away the old remembrances, or only because they 
stood in the way of his plans. 

The name the emperor wished to be called by 
was the Napoleon of Peace, as his uncle had been 
the Napoleon of War ; but it was not always pos- 
sible to keep the peace. In the year 1852, just 



460 Young Folks' History af France. 

after he had been crowned, the Russian emperor 
began to threaten to conquer Turkey, and there- 
upon the French joined with the English to protect 
the Sultan. The French and English armies, both 
together, landed in Turkey, and then made an ex- 
pedition to the Crimea, where the Russians had 
built a very strong fortified city named Sebastopol, 
whence to attack the Turks. Marshal Bugeaud 
was the French general, and, with Lord Raglan, 
commanded in the great battle fought on the banks 
of the Alma, and then. laid siege to Sebastopol, 
where again the Russians sallied out, in the night 
of the 4th of November, 1854, and attacked the 
camp at Inkerman. All the winter and spring the 
siege lasted, the two armies having much bitter 
cold to fear as they watched in the trenches ; but 
in the summer it was possible to assault the city, 
and while the English attacked the Redan, the 
French attacked the Malakoff Tower, and after 
much hard fighting this was taken. Then peace 
was made, on condition that all the fortifications of 
Sebastopol should be destroyed, and no fleet or 
army kept there for the future. 

Having thus been allies in war, England and 
France became much greater friends, and Queen 
Victoria and the emperor made visits to one 



The S('cond Empire. 461 

m 

anotlier ; and the trade of the two nations was so 

mixed up together as to make it much less easy to 

go to war, for the emperor had a love and affection 

for England, which had been a home to him in his 

days of exile. 

The Italians were more uneasy and miserable 
than ever under the rule of the Austrians, and 
begged Victor Emmanuel, King of Sardinia, to 
help them, and become an Italian king over them. 
Louis Napoleon gave them his help, and went in 
person to Lombardy, where the French and Ital- 
ians defeated the Austrians at Magenta and Sol- 
ferino ; after which there was again a peace, and 
Victor Emmanuel was owned as King of Italy, on 
condition that, in return for the help he had 
received, he should give to France the little prov- 
ince of Nice, which had always been part of the 
dukedom of Savoy, the old inheritance of his fore- 
fathers long before they were kings, but which 
seemed as if it ought to be a part of France. The 
Romans hoped that they, too, should have shaken 
off the Papal government ; but the guard of 
French soldiers was still maintained at Rome. 

Another undertaking of the emperor was to 
bring Mexico into order. This country had been 
settled by Spaniards, and belonged to Spain until 



462 Young Folks^ History of France, 

it revolted ; and for many years there had been 
constant revolutions, and very little law, so that it 
was full of outlaws and robbers. Some of the 
better disposed thought that they might do better 
if they set up a monarchy, and the French prom- 
ised to help them. The Archduke Maximilian, 
brother of the Emperor of Austria, was chosen, 
and went out, with his young wife Charlotte, 
daughter of the King of Belgium, and guarded by 
a French army. But the Mexicans were much 
more fierce and treacherous than had been ex- 
pected ; and the French troops found that staying 
there only made them more bitter, and it was 
costly to keep them there. So they were brought 
home ; and no sooner had they left Mexico, than 
the Mexicans rose up, made their emperor pris- 
oner, and shot him, while his poor wife lost her 
senses from grief. They were a good and noble 
pair — true-hearted, and anxious to do right ; and 
theirs is one of the saddest stories of our time. 

The Emperor of the French had ruled prosper- 
ously for a long time ; but the burning hatred of 
the Red Republicans was not quenched. His best 
advisers, too, were growing old and dying, and his 
own health and spirit were failing ; but he was 
trying to teach the people to rule themselves in 



The Second Empire, 463 

some degree, instead of expecting liim to keep 
order with his power from above. He was anxious 
to be sure of his son reigning after him, and he 
put it to the vote all over France whether the 
empu'e should be hereditary. 

The vote was in his favor, and he seemed quite 
secure. But at this time the Prussians had been 
gaining great successes both against Denmark and 
Austria, and the French were very jealous of 
them, and expected a fight for some of the prov- 
inces that lie along the Rhine. Just then, too, the 
Spaniards had risen, and driven away Queen 
Isabella, who had not ruled well ; and they elected 
a cousin of the King of Prussia to be their king. 
He never accepted the Spanish crown, but the 
bare notion made the French furious, and there 
was a great cry from the whole nation that the 
pride of the Prussians must be put down. The 
emperor saw his popularity was failing him, and 
that his only chance was to please the people by 
going to war. Nobody knew that the army had 
been badly managed, and that it was quite changed 
from what it was when it fought in Algiers and 
the Crimea. Indeed, the French never think that 
anything but victory can happen to them, so the 
army went off in high spirits to meet the Prus- 



464 Young Folks History of France. 

sians on the Rhine — singing, shouting, drinldng ; 
cind the emperor took his young son with him, 
unci tried to seem as hopeful as they did ; but all 
who saw him near saw that he was both ill and 
sad. This was in the summer of the year 1870, 



CHAPTER XLVIL 

THE SIEGE OF PABIS. 

1870—1871. 

EVERYONE knew that whatever might be 
said to be the quarrel between France and 
Prussia, the truth was that the two figrhtino: nations 
were jealous of one another, and wanted to meas- 
ure their strength together. The Prussians had 
never forgotten the elder Napoleon's cruelty to 
their queen, and the harshness with which the 
whole nation had been treated ; and all the Ger- 
mans distrusted Napoleon III., and thought he had 
plans for spreading the French empire into the 
German provinces beyond the Rhine. All the 
Germans, therefore, felt as if the}'- were defending 
their fatherland, and came to the army in a very 
different temper from the boastful one of the 
French. 

It was in the provinces of the Rhine that the 

46& ^ 



466 Young Folks' History of France, 

battle was to be fought out. In the first fight, at 
Werth, the French were successful, and a great 
deal was made of the victory. The Prince Impe- 
rial was made to fire the first cannon, and all the 
newspapers profanely called it his baptism of fire. 
Indeed, one of the worst signs was that nobody 
was telling truth. The emperor had been deceived 
as to the strength and order of his army ; and the 
whole French nation were entirely deceived as to 
the state of things with the army, and thought 
they were beating the Prussians, and should soon 
be at Berlin. Instead of this, all round the city of 
Sedan there was a most frightful battle, which 
lasted day after day, and in which the French 
were entirely beaten, and so surrounded and cut 
off from retreat by the German forces, that the 
emperor was obliged to surrender himself a pris- 
oner to the King of Prussia. 

He had before sent his son to England, as soon as 
he saw how things were going. The Empress 
Eugenie had been left as regent at Paris ; but as 
soon as the dreadful news came, all the Parisians 
rose up, and declared that the emperor was deposed 
and that they would have a republic again. All 
that her best friends could do for her was to help 
her to pass ^ut of the Tuileries in a plain black 



The Siege of Paris, 467 

dress, get into a fl}', and be driven to the station, 
whence she safely reached England. 

Marshal Macmahon and a large portion of the 
army who were in Sedan were made prisoners, and 
sent off to Germany. Still there was a general 
belief that help must come — that an army would 
come home from Algeria, or be put together from 
the garrisons — or that the whole nation would 
rise up and drive out the enemy. So the cities of 
Strasburg, Phalsburg, and Nancy shut their gates, 
and bravely stood a siege from the Germans ; and 
when the Parisians found that the main bodv of 
the enemy was advancing, they likewise prepared 
for a seige, under their commandant, General 
Trochu, a good man, but not enterprising. They 
were in a strange delirium of ungrateful joy at 
being rid of the empire ; they went about knock- 
ing down the carved eagles and effacing the great 
crowned N's, and declaring that now they should 
prosper, as if the enemy were not actually on their 
own ground. 

Almost every available man was enrolled in the 
National Guard or the Garde Mobile; but the 
Prussians put a stop to any warfare of the peas- 
antry, for at a little village called Bazeille, where 
some shots were fired on them, they burnt and 



468 Yourtg FolTcs" History of France, 

destroj^ed every building, and killed all who fell 
into their hands. They gave out that though 
regular soldiers would be treated as prisoners of 
war, and those who did not fight would not be 
hurt, there was to be no mercy for places where 
Germans were fired upon. 

The Prussians meant to be just, but their jus- 
tice was of a hard kind ; and though they hardly 
ever did violence to anyone's person, they had less 
scruple about plundering than they ought to have 
had. Indeed, they had bitterly hated the French 
ever since the elder Napoleon had so tyrannously 
misused Prussia, and broken the heart of Queen 
Louisa, the mother of the King William who was 
now leading his forces to Paris ; and much that 
they called retribution, lookers-on called revenge. 

The king placed his headquarters in the grand 
old palace of Versailles, and thence besieged Paris, 
cutting off all supplies and all communication from 
outside. No one could come in or out, save 
through the German camp, except in a balloon ; 
and one of the Republican leaders, M. Gambetta, 
actually came out in a balloon, to try to raise the 
spirit of the rest of France to come to the relief of 
the capital. Letters came and went, too, by car- 
rier pigeons ; and tiny letters on thin paper, and 



The Seige of Paris, 471 

newspapers in print so small that they could only 
be read with a magnifying glass, were prepared for 
this pigeon post. Meantime, the people ate up all 
their stores ; and after finishing the mutton and 
beef, all the horses were seized, and the cats and 
dogs were killed : the flour was diluted with saw- 
dust ; and the starvation became all the more 
wretched as the winter came on ; and there was as 
sad a want of fuel as of food. Meanwhile, the 
German shells were constantly flying in, destroy- 
ing houses, and killing all whom their splinters 
struck. 

It was as bad at Strasburg, while these Paris- 
ians were consoling themselves by ofl'ering gar- 
lands to the statue of that city in the Place de la 
Concorde ; but Strasburg, Metz, and Phalsburg all 
were taken, and all the hopes of helj) from without 
faded away. The supposed army in the south 
never appeared at all, and one in the west, which 
at first had some success, was soon defeated. The 
Prussian army occupied more and more ground ; 
and though the Parisian troops tried to sally out 
and attack the German camp, this turned out to 
be all in vain. For the Parisians, both in the 
National Guard and Garde Mobile, had no notion 
of obeying orders or observing discipline, and 



472 Young Folks' History of France. 

without these nobody can fight ; while even as to 
bravery, they showed themselves sadly unlike their 
loud boasts of themselves. Nobody did show any 
steady courage but the few real soldiers, the gentle- 
men, and the Bretons ; and their bravery ended in 
their being killed when no one supported them. 
It was all the worse, because there was bitter dis- 
trust between the Red Republicans and the Mod- 
erate party, and each expected to be betrayed by 
the other. The only pleasant thing to think of in 
the whole war was the care taken by a society, 
gathered from all nations — chiefly Swiss, German, 
and English — for sending nurses to the wounded 
and help to the ruined. They were known by the 
Red Cross, and wherever this was seen they were 
respected. 

One difficulty was — Who or what was the 
government which might make peace with the 
Prussians ? but after half-a-year of siege, M. Thiers 
and General Trochu, and others of the Moderate 
party, made terms. Paris was, in fact, surren- 
dered ; but the King of Prussia jDromised not to 
grieve the French by marching in at the head of 
his army, but to be content with quietly entering 
himself. The two provinces of Lorraine and 
Alsace, which used to be German, were to be 



The Siege of Paris, 473 

given up to him ; Prussian troops were to be left 
for a year in garrison in France ; and a fine was to 
be paid. At the same time, quantities of food and 
firing were sent in for the famished Parisians, the 
prisoners were released, and among them the 
emperor, who went to England. 



CHAPTER XLVIII. 

THE COMMUNISTS. 
1871. 

'T^HE terms of the treaty were no sooner knoAvn 
-L than all the ill-will and distrust of the Red 
Republicans openlj^ broke out. They declared 
that they were betrayed; that their generals and 
the National Guards would not fight, and had sold 
them to the enemy ; and that they would not give 
up their arms, or be bound by the treaty. They 
drew together on a height with their cannon, and 
closed the gates, and barricaded the streets again. 
The Government withdrew to Versailles, to wait 
for the arrival of all the troops who had been in 
captivity ; and these Red Republicans did what 
they chose. One horrible deed was, shooting, and 
that with many repeated wounds, two generals who 
had tried to maintain discipline in the first siege, 
and had thus offended them. 

474 



The Communists. 475 

A sort of government was set up, calling itself 
the Commune — an old word for a town council 
governing itself — and thus the Red Republicans 
were known as the Communists. Thej were either 
newspaper writers, or else workmen and mechan- 
ics ; and there was one noble among them, quite as 
desperate as the rest. All the former pride in the 
first Bonaparte had turned into a ferocious hatred 
to the very name ; so that even the great column 
in the Place Vendome, raised in honor of his vic- 
tories, was thrown down ; and the Communists 
were as furious against law, order, property, and 
religion as ever their grandfathers in the Reign of 
Terror had been. They turned the clergy out of 
the churches, and the Sisters of Charity out of the 
hospitals, and uttered the maddest and most hor- 
rible blasphemies against all that was good or great. 
The women were equally violent, or even more so, 
with the men — they sang songs of liberty, and 
carried weapons, uttering fearful threats. Some of 
the leaders had been captured, and kept at Ver- 
sailles ; whereupon they seized on the archbishop, 
Monseigneur Darboy, and five more clergy — good 
and holy men, who had spent their whole lives in 
the endeavor to teach and help them, and who, all 
through the siege had toiled to lessen the suf- 



476 Young Folks History of France, 

ferings of the poor. They were thrown into 
prison ; and when the Commune found that theii 
own members were not released, and that Marshal 
Macmahon and the army were closely besieging 
Paris, all these good priests were brought to the 
prison of La Roquette, and there shot, and hastily 
buried. The good archbishop died with his hand 
uplifted, as if in the act of blessing his mur- 
derers. This was on the 24th of May, 1871. 

All France was against the madmen who had 
possession of their much-loved Paris ; but the 
Communists held out desperately, and forced many 
quiet citizens to fight, by making their carrying 
arms the only condition of obtaining food, which 
of course, they could not earn by honest labor as 
of old. At last, however, the soldiers from Ver- 
sailles began to force their way in, and then, in 
their final madness, the Red Republicans set fire to 
the city. The Hotel de Ville was soon blazing, 
and so was the Tuileries. It was said that inflam- 
mable materials had been placed in them for this 
purpose, and that women went about throwing 
petroleum in at the windows of houses to set them 
on fire. 

The Versailles government, their troops, and 
indeed all who looked on, were in a frenzy of rage 



The Communists. 477 

and grief at seeing their beautiful city, the pride 
and darling of every Frenchman's heart, thus 
destroyed before their eyes. And as the soldiers 
slowly fought their way in, with cannon pointed 
down the streets, and mowing all before them, 
they made a most fearful slaughter of men and 
women alike — and, it may be feared, the innocent 
with the guilty. Indeed, the very cry of " une 
petroleuse " was enough to cause a woman to be 
hunted down, and shot without further trial. 
There was a last stand made by the Communists 
in the great cemetery of Pere la Chaise, where 
most of them died the death of wolves ; and large 
herds of the captured were marched off towards 
Versailles — many to be shot at once, others im- 
prisoned, and after trial sent off to prison, and 
exiled to Cayenne or New Caledonia. 

Thus the Red Republic was extinguished in fire 
and blood, and order was restored. The city was 
found to be less injured by the fires than had been 
feared when they were seen raging ; and for the 
time M. Thiers ruled as a sort of president, and 
set matters as right as was possible in the torn and 
bleeding country. Meantime, the emperor. Napo- 
leon III., died in his exile in England ; and the 
nation began to consider what should be the gov- 



478 Young Folks* History of France, 

ernment for the future. The old parties still 
existed — the Legitimists, still \oy?i\ to Henr}", 
Count of Chambord ; the Orleanists, wishing for a 
son or grandson of Louis Philippe ; the Bonapart- 
ists, loving the memory of Napoleon III., and hop- 
ing to restore his son ; the Moderate Republicans, 
chiefly seeking rest and order, and now revenge 
upon Germany and the remnant of the Com- 
munists. 

Henry, Count of Chambord, having no children, 
so that the Count of Paris, eldest grandson of 
Louis Philippe, was his right heir, there was a plan 
that the Legitimist and Orleans parties should join, 
and a proposal was made to restore the Count of 
Chambord as such a king as Louis Philippe was, 
and that the Count of Paris should reign after him. 

But the Count of Chambord's answer was that 
he would come to his forefathers' throne if he were 
invited, but only to reign as they did, by the right 
given to his family by God, not as the chosen of 
the people. He would be the Most Christian king 
^ — the King of France, not of the French — with 
the white flag of the Bourbons, not the tricolor — 
and the Eldest Son of the Church obedient to the 
Pope. 

Nobody except the old Legitimists was in a 



The Communists. 479 

mood to accept this answer, and so, when the 
choice of a government was put to the vote of the 
nation, it was decided to have a republic, with a 
president, instead of a monarch}^ ; and Marshal 
Macmahon was soon after elected as presidents 



Questions for Examination. 



Chapter I. — 1. Who were the Kelts ? 2. Into what were 
they divided ? 3. What does Pen mean in Keltic ? 4. What 
rivers did the Kelts name? 5. What do Rhine and Rhone 
mean ? 6. What does Seine mean ? 1. What does Garonne 
mean? 8. What were the two divisions of Kelts? 9. How 
did the Kelts travel? 10. How did they dress? 11. Who 
were the Galatians ? 12. Who sacked Rome ? 13. Wliat was 
Gallia Cis-Alpiiia ? 14. What was Gallia Trans-Alpina? 15. 
What metals are found in Gaul ? 16. Who found them out ? 
17. Who followed the Phoenicians ? 18. What cities did the 
Greeks build ? 19. Whom did the Greeks call to help them ? 
20. What were the first two Roman towns ? 21. Who was the 
messenger to the Romans ? 22. Which was the bravest clan in 
Gaul? 



Chapter IP — 1. What did the Romans call their settle- 
ment ? 2. What was a colony ? 3. How was a colony begun ? 
4. How long were the Romans in gaining Gaul? 5. Who 
broke into Gaul ? 6. Who defeated the Cimbri and Teutons ? 
7. Who conquered Gaul ? and in what year ?. 8. What tribe 
rose against him ? 9. Who was the great chief of the Arverni ? 
10. Where did Vercingetorix fortify himself ? 11. How was 

481 



482 Questions for Examination. 

he shut in ? 12. How did Vercingetorix surrender ? 13. 
What was his end ? 14. Wliat cities did the Romans huild in 
Gaul ? 15. Wlio governed Rome ? 16. Who made a rising 
against Rome ? 17. What was tlie name of his brave wife ? 



Chapter III. — 1. Who was the first Bisliop of Aries ? 2. 
Who first persecuted the Gallic Christians ? 3. Wlio was their 
brave girl-martyr ? 4, Where were the Christians massacred ? 
5. What were the three Keltic Provinces ? 6. How was Con- 
stantine converted ? 7. Who were the enemies of the Gauls ? 
8. Who defended Gaul from them ? 9. Who set up an empire 
there ? 10. Who finished the conversion of Gaul ? 11. How 
long had the Romans held Gaul ? 



Chapter IY. — 1. What kind of people were the Teutons ? 
2. Who were tlieir gods ? 3. What were their chief tribes ? 
4. Which tribes came to Gaul ? 5. What were the two tribes 
of Franks? 6. What was their kingly family called ? 7. la 
what year was Attila's invasion? 8. Where was Attila de- 
feated? 9. Why was Gaul deserted by the Romans? 10. 
What good did Genoveva do at Paris ? 11. Who was Clovis ? 
12. What was Clovis' promise ? 13. Where was he baptized ? 
14. What was his chief home in Gaul ? 15. What church did 
he build ? 16. What was the King of France always called ? 
17. When did Clovis die ? 18. What part of Gaul belonged to 
the Franks ? 19. What part was still Roman ? 20. What 
part was still Keltic ? 21. Hoav many sons had Clovis ? 22. 
What cruel thing did two of them do ? 23. Which child was 
saved ? 



Chapter Y. — 1. Who were the Meerwings ? 2. Who were 
the two wicked queens ? ^. What were the two kingdoms of 



Questions for JExamination, 48o 

the Franks ? 4. When did Fredegond die ? 5. What good did 
Brynhild do '? 6. But whom did she reject ? 7. What was her 
end? 8. In what year? 9. What work was done in Dago- 
bert's time? 10. How many more Meerwings reigned after 
him ? 11. What are they called ? 12. Who governed for 
them ? 13. Which kingdom came to be greatest ? 14. Who 
was Mayor of the Palace in iSTeustria ? 



Chaptee YI. — 1. Who was the next Mayor of the Palace ? 
2. What was Pepin's son called? 3. What was Charles Mar- 
tel's great battle? 4. In what year? 5. With whom did he 
fight ? 6. Who was the false prophet of the Arabs ? T. What 
countries had they conquered ? 8. When did he die ? 9. 
Who was the first of these Mayors to become a king ? 10. In 
what year ? 11. What was their dynasty called ? 12. Who 
came to ask Pepin's help? 13. Against whom? 14. What 
reward did Pope Stephen give Pephi ? 15. What did Pepin 
give Pope Stephen ? 16, When did Pepin the Short die ? 



Chapter YII. — 1. When did Carl the Great begin to reign ? 
2. Who reigned with him at first ? 3, What were his great 
conquests ? 4. Who was the Saxon chief ? 5. ^Yliy did 
Charlemagne fight with the Lombards ? 6. Who was king 
of the Lombards ? 7. Who held Spain ? 8. What disaster did 
Carl meet with ? 9. How many sons had Charlemagne ? 10. 
What were they kings of ? 11. Where did Carl generally live ? 
12. What did he do to promote learning ? 13. What hymn did 
he write ? 14. What dignity was given him ? 15. In what 
year did his Empire begin ? 16. What was his capital ? 17. 
What great Bishoprics did he set up ? 18. When did he die ? 



484 Questions for Examination, 

Chaptek YIII. — 1. Of what was the Empiie made up? 2. 
Who was always head of it ? 3. Who was Emperor after 
Charlemagne ? 4. Why were there wars in Louis's time ? 5. 
When did Louis L die ? 6. Which son was Emperor ? 7. 
Which reigned in France? 8. What province is called after 
Lothar ? 9. What was the story of John Scot ? 10. What 
were the troubles of Charles the Bald ? IL Whence did the 
Northmen come ? 12. When did Charles the Bald die ? 13. 
Who was Charles the Fat? 14. Who beseiged Paris? 15. 
When was Charles the Fat deposed? 16. How was the 
Empire broken up ? 



Chapter IX. — 1. Who warred for power? 2. Who held 
with Charles the Simple? 3. Who held with Arnulf? 4. 
When did Carlings cease to reign in Germany ? 5. Who were 
the Counts of Paris ? G. Who gained Normandy ? 7. When 
was Rolf baptized ? 8. What was homage ? 9. What was the 
story of Rolf's homage? 10. What became of Charles the 
Simple? 11. When? 12. Who reigned after him? 13. 
Where Mas his son bred up? 14. Who brought back Louis 
lY.? 15. Whom did Louis IV. make prisoner? 10. How was 
Richard saved ? 17. Who took his part ? 18. When did Louis 
lY. die ? 19. How long did Lothar reign ? 20. Who was the 
last of the Carlings ? 21. What family reigned next ? 22. 
When did Hugh Capet begin to reign ? 



Chapter X, — 1. What power had the King of France ? 2. 
What were the two languages of North and South called ? 3. 
What was talked in Brittany? 4. Who were the great nobles 
in the South ? 5. To whom did Provence belong ? G. What 
was the feudal system ? 7. How did the barons treat their 



Questions for Examination, 485 

vassals ? 8. How were people knighted ? 9. How were the 
Popes going on ? 10. Who reformed the papacy ? 11. When 
did Hugh Capet die ? 



Chapter XI. — 1. What was expected in the year 1000 ? 2. 
What was the consequence ? 3. Wliat good came out of this ? 
4. What was the Truce of God ? 5. What kind of man was 
King Kobert ? 6. What were his troubles ? 7. When did 
Robert die ? 8. Who reformed the elections of the Popes ? 9. 
Who choose the Pope ? 10. What was a pilgrimage ? 11. 
When did Henry I. die ? 12. What was a Crusade ? 1.3. Who 
preached the first Crusade ? 14. Where was it preached ? 15. 
Who led the Crusaders ? 16. What were the religious orders 
of knighthood ? 17. When did Philip I. die ? 



Chapter XII. — 1. How did the cities take care of them- 
selves ? 2. What were the free cities called ? 3. Whose part 
did Louis YI. take against Henry I.? 4. What were the 
battles then fought ? 5. Who was Suger ? 6. Who was 
Abailard ? 7. Who was St. Bernard ? 8. Of what was he 
abbot ? 9. What is he called ? 10. Whom did the son of 
Louis marry ? 11. When did Louis YI. die ? 



Chapter XIII. — 1. Who preached tha second Crusade ? 2. 
Where was it preached ? 3 Who went upon it ? 4. What 
misfortune happened on the way? 5. How did the queen 
behave ? 6. How was the king separated from her ? 7. 
Whom did she marry ? 8. What parts of France were in the 
hands of Henry II. of England ? 9. What was the meeting- 
place of the kings? 10. Whom did Louis shelter? 11. Why 
did Becket flee from England ? 12. Whom did Louis help 



486 Questions for Examination. 

against Henry II.? 13. "Who were the troubadours? 14 
What is the Salic law ? 15. What son was born to Louis ? 16. 
What danger did Philip fall into ? 17. How did Louis show 
his joy ? 18. In wliat year did Louis die ? 



Chapter XIY.— 1. Why did Philip II. cut down the elm of 
Gisors? 2. Wliat kind of person was Philip II.? 3. What is 
he called? 4. Why was the third Crusade begun ? 5. Who went 
upon it ? 6. What was the end of Henry II ? 7. How did 
Philip travel to the Holy Land ? 8. What city was taken ? 9. 
Why did Philip return ? 10. What did he do in Richard's 
absence ? 11. What kept Richard away so long ? 12. Who 
reigned after Richard? 13. Whose part did Philip take 
against John ? 14. How was peace made ? 15. What sin had 
Philip committed ? 16. How did the Pope punish him ? 17. 
What is an interdict ? 18. Whom was Philip forced to take 
back ? 19. How did Philip gain Normandy ? 20. What was 
John's quarrel with the Pope ? 21. Who was the Pope who 
laid both France and England under interdicts ? 22. Whom 
did Innocent III. hivite to conquer England? 23. What 
Emperor did Philip defeat? 24. At what battle? 25. Why 
was Louis the Lion invited to England ? 26. What city was 
put into his hands ? 27. Why did he not stay there .? 28. 
What was the great success of Philip Augustus ? 29. When 
did he die? 30. Which English kings were his contempo-. 
raries .-* 



Chapter XY.— 1. When did Louis YIII. come to the 
throne? 2. With whom was his chief war? 3. Where did 
the Albigenses live? 4. What was their false doctrine? 5. 
Who were the two men who came to Innocent HI ? 6. What 
was the work of the Franciscans ? 7. What was the work of 



Questions for Examination, 487 

the Dominicans ? 8. Who supported tlie Albigenses ? 9. 
Whom did Innocent send against them? 10. Wliat was the 
great battle with them? 11. Who was killed there? 12. How 
did tlie Crusaders treat tlieir prisoners ? 13. Where was 
Simon de Montfort killed ? 14. Wlien did Louis the Lion die? 
15. Vflio governed for his son ? 16. How was peace made ? 
17. "WHiom did tlie four Provencal ladies marry? 18. What was 
the Inquisition for ? 



Chapter XYI. — 1. When Iiad Louis IX. come to the throne? 
2. What was his character? 3. "Why would lie not take Guy- 
enne ? 4. Why would he not give up Normandy? 5. What 
made him go on a Crusade ? 6. Where did he attack the Mo- 
hammedans ? 7. What city did he take ? 8. Where was he 
made prisoners? 9. What caused his disasters? 10. Who 
were the Memlooks ? 11. How did Louis recover his liberty? 
12. Where did he sit to do justice? 13. What county belonged 
to Louis's brother Charles ? 14. Wliat kingdom did tlie Pope 
give him? 15. How many Crusades did Louis undertake? 16. 
Where did he go on the second journey ? 17. What was the 
cause of his death ? 18. When did he die ? 



Chapter XTII. — 1. When did Philip HI. begin to reign ? 
2. What were the Sicilian Vespers? 3. Who was made King 
of Sicily? 4. Who was sent to attack him in Aragon? 5. 
iWhen did Philip HI. die? 6. What sort of person was 
Philip lY.? 7. What province did he take from Edward I.? 
8. How was peace made? 9. With whom was Philip's great 
quarrel? 10. What caused it? 11. Where was the Pope 
attacked? 12. What was the end of Boniface YIII.? 13. 
Wliat promise did the king obtain from Clement Y.? 14. 



488 Questions for Exammation, 

Where did Clement Y. come to live ? 15. What was the harm 
of the move to Avignon ? 16. What Order was destroyed by 
Philip lY.? 17. Who was the Grand Master? 18. When did 
Philip the Fair die ? 

Chapter XYIII. — 1. How many sons did Philip the Fair 
leave ? 2. When did Louis X. begin to reign } 3. When did 
Philip Y. begin to reign ? 4. When did Charles lY. begin to 
reign ? 5. When did he die > 6. Who reigned after him ? 7. 
What relation was Philip YI. to him .? 8. Why did none of the 
daughters reign ? 9. But who laid claim to France ? 10. What 
was Edward III.'s claim? 11. How was he stirred up? 12. 
Where did he go first ? 13. Where did he defeat the French 
ships? 14. Who were fighting for Brittany? 15. Who gained 
it ? 16. Who were the great Breton knights ? 17. What made 
the English armies better than the French ? 18. Where did 
Edward defeat Philip ? 19. What misfortune led to a peace ? 
20. Wliat was the king's eldest grandson called? 21. Why was 
he called Dauphin ? 22. Who left him Yienne ? 23. When' did 
Philip YI. die ? 



Chapter XIX. — 1. What had hurt the health of the Dau- 
phin ? 2. Who was Charles the bad ? 3. How was he of- 
fended ? 4. Who invaded France ? 5. Where was John made 
prisoner ? 6. Where did the Black Prince rule ? 7. What 
ruflBans roamed in France ? 8. What were the troubles in 
Paris ? 9. What was the rising of the peasants called ? 10. 
What resolution had the Dauphin taken ? 11. How then did 
he cause the English to retreat ? 12. What were the condi- 
tions of peace ? 13. How did John fulfil them ? 14. When did 
John die ? 15. Who were his sons ? 



Questions for Examination, 489 

Chapter XX. — 1. How did Charles Y. manage his war ? 2. 
Who was liis Constable ? 3. What was the office of the Con- 
stable of France ? 4. When was Charles the Bad defeated ? 
5. What question was settled at the battle of Auray ? 6. Who 
were the Free Companions ? 7. How did the king try to get 
rid of them ? 8. Who took up the cause of Peter the Cruel ? 
9. Where did the Black Prince defeat Du Gaesclin ? 10. 
Where was Peter the Cruel killed? 11. Why did the Gascons 
appeal to Charles ? 12. How did lie carry on the war ? 13. 
What town was sacked by the Black Prince ? 14. What was 
left to England in France ? 15. Where did Du Guesclin die? 16. 
Who was the next Constable ? 17. When did Charles Y. die ? 



Chapter XXI. — 1. How old was Charles YI. when he 
came to the throne ? 2. Who quarrelled about him ? 3. What 
great quarrel was there in the Church ? 4. Where did these 
two Popes live ? 5. Where did the King of France hold by ? 
6. How did the Count of Flanders get into trouble ? 7. What 
were the cities of Flanders famous for? 8. How was the 
Count hidden ? 9. Where were the Flemings defeated ? 10. 
Who tried to murder Clisson ? 11. What befel the king on 
his way ? 12. What brought on a second attack of his in- 
sanity ? 13. What Crusade was undertaken by the French ? 



Chapter XXII. — 1. What was the state of Charles YI. ? 2. 
What was the state of France ? 3. Who were the chief 
princes ? 4. With which did Paris take part ? 5. What crime 
was committed ? G. What were the partizans of Orleans called? 

7. How were the Armagnacs and Burgundians distinguished ? 

8. How many princes were Dauphins in turn ? 9. What battle 
was lost by Dauphin Louis ? 10. Who had the chief power in 



4i'0 Questions for Examination* 

tiie French councils '? 11. What agreement was made with 
Henry Y.? 12. What murder was conim.itted in the name of 
Dauphin Charles ? 13. Wha.t was the effect of the murder of 
Jouu the Fearless ? 14. How much of France was held hy 
Henr/ Y.? 15. Who came to help the Dauphin? IG. What 
battle was won by the Scots allies ? 17. What sieges were 
uude) taken by Henry Y.? 18. When did Charles YI. die? 



"Uh^aPTer XXIII.— 1. Who was crowned King of France on 
iJhar] fs YI/s death ? 2. What , was Charles YII. called at 
(j.fst •-* -Se Who stirred up France to his aid ? 4. What was 
tii.e S rst exploit of Joan of Arc ? 5. What was her great 
ooject ? 6. How was she misused ? 7. Where was she put to 
Cieath ? 8. Who was the great Constable of France ? 9. What 
\<riis tae end of the hundred years' war ? 10. What was the 
erjd r>i the Great Schism ? 11. How had the hundred years' 
\var uegun ? 12. How had the Great Schism begun ? 13. 
Y,'hcy was the mightiest prince in France ? 14. What was the 
ena it Charles YII.? J 5. When did he die ? 



1.IAPTEB XXIY.— 1. What were the faults of Louis XT,? 
2. ^^ bat was his religion ? 3. Who were his favorites ? 4. 
What became of his brother ? 5. Who was his great enemy ? 
D. TVhen did Louis fail into his own trap ? 7. How did he get 
".mt of it ? 8. Who invaded France ? 9. Where had Louis 
and Ed<A^ard a meeting ? 10. What war was stirred up against 
Duke Charles ? 11. What was the end of Duke Charles ? 12. 
Who succeeded him ? 13. Whom did Mary of Burgundy 
Hiarr;\ ? 14. Who succeeded her ? 15. Whose rights did Louis 
bijy ? IG. What right had Kene to Provence ? 17. What right 



Questions for ^Examination, 491 

had Rene to Naples ? 18. Who were tlie cliildren of Loui§ 
XL? 19. When did he die ? 

Chapter XXY.— 1. How old was Charles YIII. when lis 
came to the crown ? 2. Who was the regent ? 3. W"ith whom 
did she dispute ? 4. Who M-as wife to Charles YIII,? o. Ilow 
came Anne of Brittany to many liini ? 6. Yv'hom had tho 
Bretons wislied her to marry ? 7. What was now joined to 
France ? 8. What expedition did Charles YIII. make ? 9, 
What duchy did the Duke of Orleans claim ? 10. How did 
Charles succeed ? 11. What battle did he win ? 12. But 
what became of his army in Kaples ? 13. What good resolu- 
tions did Charles make ? 14. But liow was he prevented from 
keeping them ? 15. When did Charles YIII. die ? 



Chapter XXYI.— 1. Who succeeded Charles YIII.? 9., 
What was Louis XII's right to the throne ? 3. Wliom did he 
put away from being his wife ? 4. Whom did he marry ? 5. 
What expedition did he also make ? 6. What agreement was 
made ? 7. Was it kept ? 8. Wliat battle was lost by the 
French ? 9. Who joined in the league of Cambrai ? 10. Who 
joined in the Holy League ? 11. What was the Holy League 
to do ? 12. What battle was gained by the French ? 13. But 
what befel them in Italy? 14. What little kingdom did the 
Spaniards seize ? 15. What battle was won by the English 9 
16, What city was taken ? 17. How was peace made ? 18. 
When did Louis XII. die ? 



Chapter XXYII. — 1. What was the right of Francis I. to 
the tlironc ? 2. What was his first war ? 2. What was his 



492 Questions for Examination, 

first battle ? 4. What agreement did Francis make with the 
pope ? 5. What harm was done by the Concordat of Bologna ? 
6. Where did Francis meet Henry VIII.? 7. Wlio was chosen 
emperor? 8. What subject of Francis became a traitor? 9. 
In what battle was Francis made prisoner ? 10. What was the 
date of the battle of Pavia ? 11. What engagement did Francis 
make. 12. What protest did he make ? 13. What did he cry 
when he was set free ? 14. How long had he been a prisoner ? 



Chapter XXYIII. — 1. Who marched upon Eome ? 2. 
Who made peace ? 3. Who was trying to reform France ? 4. 
Who read Calvin's books ? 5. How were the Calvinists perse- 
cuted ? 6. What were they called in France ? 7. Where did 
Calvin go to live ? 8. Who was Francis's niece ? 9. Whom 
did Jane of Navarre marry ? 10. What part of France did 
Charles Y. invade ? 11. Who was sent against him ? 12. 
When did Charles visit Francis? 13. Why did Charles Y. and 
Henry YIII. invade France ? 14. What city did Henry take ? 
15. Why did he give it back ? 16. When did Francis I. die ? 
17. What children did he leave ? 



Chapter XXIX. — 1. What state was the French court in ? 
2. Who tried to improve it? 3. How were the Huguenots 
treated ? 4. Wlio was the queen ? 5. Who was Henry's best 
general ? 6. What siege did Guise stand ? 7. Whither did 
Charles Y.. retire ? 8. Who had the empire ? 9. What did 
Philip II. have ? 10. Who was his wife ? 11. What town was 
besieged ? 12. Who was defending it ? 13. What battle was 
fought ? 14. What peace was made ? 15. What war was 
ended by the peace of Cateau Cambresis ? 16. What dukedom 



Questions for Examination, 493 

had Henry to restore? 17. To whom was he to marry hi3 

sister? 18. What happened during the wedding feast.'' 19c 
In what year did Henry II. die ? 



Chaptek XXX. — 1. How old was Francis II. when he 
came to the crown ? Wlio governed for liim ? 3. Who was 
his wife ? 4. Who was his cliief noble ? 5. Who were the 
chief Huguenots ? 6. What plot was made against the Bour- 
bon brothers ? 7. How was the murder prevented? 8. When 
did Francis II. die ? 9. How old was Charles IX.? 10. Who 
had influence with Catherine ? 11. What conferences were 
held ? 12. What was the massacre of Yassy ? 1.3. Who were 
the two parties? 14. Who was always head of the Catholics ? 
15. Who was always head of the Huguenots ? 16. What waa 
the end of the Duke of Guise ? 17. Who was accused of the 
murder ? 18. Where was Montmorency killed ? 19. Who was 
killed at Jarnac ? 20. Wlio was now head of the Huguenots ? 
21. Who was the son of Jane of Navarre ? 22. What was the 
death of Queen Jane ? 



Chapter XXXI — 1. Who were the sons of Catherine de 
Medici? 2. Which was reigning? 3. What was her plot ? 4. 
How did she bring the Huguenots together ? 5. What was the 
day of their murder ? 6. Who was the chief of the Huguenots 
killed at the St. Bartholomew? 7. Who were the chief actors 
in it ? 8. Who was kept a prisoner ? 9. What people chose 
Henry of Anjou for their king ? 10. Who was the favorite of 
the Catholics ? 11. When did Charles IX. die? 12. How did 
Henry IH. return from Poland ? 



Chapter XXXII.— 1. What were the habits of Henry III ? 



494 Questions for Exawdnation, 

2. "Wlio took the command of the Huguenots ? 3. How came 
Henry of ISTavarre to be heir of France ? 4, Who objected to 
his reigning ? 5. What was the object of the League ? 6. 
What was the murder at Blois ? 7. How did tlie League try to 
revenge itself? 8. Where did the khigs meet? 9. Who held 
out Paris against them? 10. Who murdered Henry HI.? 11. 
In what year ? 



Chapter XXXIIL— 1. What was Henry lY.'s right to the 
crown ? 2, Whom did the Leaguers want for queen ? 3. 
What did Henry do to win them over ? 4. How long was it 
before he could enter Paris ? .5. What did he do to bring about 
peace? 6. What was the edict that tolerated the Calvinists ? 
7. Whom did Henry lY. marry ? 8. By whom was he mur- 
dered ? 9. Li what year ? 10. What do the French call hhn .? 



Chapter XXXI Y. — 1. How old was Louis XIII. when he 
came to the throne? 2. Who was regent ? 3. How was Mary 
de Medici ruled? 4. What was the end of Concini ? 5. What 
became of Mary? 6. Who was Louis XIII.'s great minister? 
7. Whose power did Richelieu put down ? 8. What was the 
last city of the Huguenots ? 9. Who were Louis's two great 
generals ? 10. What great wars w^ere going on ? 11. When did 
Louis XIIL die? 



Chapter XXXY. — 1. How old was Louis XIY. when he 
came to the crown ? 2. Who was regent ? 3. Who was min- 
ister? 4. Who was his great general? 5. What battle did 
Conde win ? 6. What peace was made ? 7. What was tlie 
Fronde ? 8. Why was it so called ? 9. What was the differ- 
ence between the Englisli and French Parliaments ? 10. What 



Questions for ^Examination, 495 

edict would not the Parliament register ? 11. How many- 
sieges of Paris were there ? 12. Who took part against Maza- 
rin ? 13. What was Conde forced to do ? 14. In whose army 
did he serve } 15. Who commanded against him ? IG. What 
peace was made ? 17. Whom was Louis to marry ? 18. What 
was the character of Louis XIV." 



Chapter XXXYI. — 1. How did Louis go to the wars ? 2. 
What great war did he begin ? 3. How were the English 
gained to his side ? 4. Who was his great enemy in Holland ? 
5. How did Holland protect itself ? 6. Who took the part of 
the Dutch ? 7. Who invaded Germany ? 8. Where was 
Turenne killed ? 9. Who commanded in his stead } 10. What 
town and sta,te did Louis take ? 11. Wlio was tutor to Louis's 
son ? 12. Who was tutor to his grandson ? 13. What great 
offence was given by Fenelon } 14. Whom did Louis marry in 
his old age ? 15. What law ^'A he repeal ? 16. What did the 
Huguenots suffer ? 



Chapter XXXVIL— 1. How did Louis XIY. lose the Eng- 
lish for allies ? 2. W^om did he try to restore in England ? 
3. What defeats did lie suffer ? 4. Wliat great war began ? 5. 
Who claimed the crown of Spain ? 6. Who was the nearest 
heir ? 7. Whom did Louis put forward ? 8. Whose cause did 
the English take up ? 9. Who commanded the English array? 
10. Who commanded the Austrian army? 11. Who was 
Prince Eugene ? 12. Who commanded the French armies ? 
13. Wliert; were the French beaten ? 14. Where were they 
victorious? 15. What ended the war? 16. Who became 
King jf Spain ? 17. What were the losses in the RoyaJ 



496 Questions for Examination, 

Family ? 18. Who alone survived ? 19. How long did Louis 
XIV. reign ? 20. In what year did he die ? 



Chapter XXXYIII. — 1. How old was Louis XY. when he 
came to the throne ? 2. Who was regent ? 3. What was the 
state of the court? 4 What great war was going on? 5. 
What victories did the French gain ? 6. Who had all the 
power in France now ? 7. Who had built up that power? 8. 
How was it used by Louis XY,? 9. What was the state of the 
people? 10. Who were writing against religion? 11. Who 
was heir of France ? 12. Whom did the young Dauphin 
marry ? 13. When did Louis XY. die ? 



Chaptek XXXIX. — ]. What were the evils in Louis XYI's 
time? 2. How did the queen affront people? 3. What was 
the American war? 4, Who ran away to fight among the 
Americans? 5. What assembly did Louis call together? 6. 
In what year did the States-General meet ? 7. What were 
they composed of ? 8. Who threatened the nobles ? 9. What 
prison did the mob pull down ? 10. What guard was enrolled ? 
11. How did the States-General change its name ? 12. Where 
did the mob attack the king and queen ? 13. Where were 
they brought back to ? 14. What oath was required of the 
clergy ? 15. What happened on the 10th of August ? 16. In 
what year was Louis XYI. deposed ? 



Chapter XL. — 1. Who professed to govern France? 2. 
Where were the Koyal Family shut up ? 3. Who tried to free 
them ? 4. What was the effect of all attempts for them ? 



Questions for Exarnination. 497 

5. Where were the emigrant nobles beaten ? 6. Who were the 
three men in power? 7. What was this time called ? 8. How 
were people put to deg,th ? 9. Who were guillotined in the 
Eoyal Family ? 10. Who were left alive ? 11. Who also were 
put to death.? 12. Who was enthroned at Notre Dame ? 13. 
What became of Marat? 14. What became of Danton and 
Robespierre ? 15. How long had the Reign of Terror lasted ? 
16. Who governed then ? 17. What wars were there ? 18. 
What great soldier came forward ? 19. Where was Bonaparte's 
home ? 20. Where did he lead the French ? 21. What road 
did he 'ake into Italy ? 22. What part of Italy did he con- 
quer .'' 



CHAvfER XLI. — 1. What was the government of France 
called.? 2. Where did Bonaparte lead his army.? 3. What 
battle did he gain there? 4. But what became of his ships? 
5. Where did he march from Egypt? 6. What battle did he 
win in the Holy Land ? 7. What seige did he fail in ? 8. 
What called him home ? 9. What was he chosen to be ? 10. 
What battle did he gain in Italy? 11. What became of his 
army in Egypt } 12. When was the Peace of Amiens made ? 
13. How soon was it broken ? 14. Whom did ISTapoleon put to 
death? 15. What rank did he take on himself? 16. What 
was the only nation that would not own him ? 17. Where 
was his fleet destroyed? 18. Where did Napoleon defeat the 
Austrians ? 19. Where did he defeat the Prussians ? 20. 
Where did he fight with the Prussians ? 21. What kingdoms 
did he give his brothers ? 22. Who called the English to help 
them? 23. What battles opened the way to Vienna? 24. 
Whom did Napoleon marry? 25. What was his last expedi- 
tion? 26. What was the result? 27. Who joined together 



498 Questions for Examination, 

against him ? 28. What was he obliged to do ? 29. When did 
he abdicate ? oO. Where was lie sent ? 



Chapteb XLII. — 1. Who was made King of France ? 2. 
Who survived of the Koyal Family ? 3. Who was the Duke of 
Angouleme ? 4. Who was his duchess ? 5. When did Napo- 
leon escape from Elba ? 6. How was he received ? 7. Where 
did Louis XYIII. flee ? 8. Who were the allies ? 9. Which 
were ready first ? 10. When was tlie battle of Waterloo ? 11. 
Who were engaged in it ? 12. To wliom did Napoleon sur- 
render ? 13. Where was he confined ? 14. When did he die ? 
15. What became of his son ? 16. Which of his marshals was 
put to death ? 17. Wlio was his great mniister ? 18. What 
was the saying about the Bourbons ? 19. What did Louis 
grant the people ? 20. What murder took place in his time ? 
21. When did Louis XVIII. die ? 



Chapteb XLIII.—l. Who was the heir of Louis XYIII. ? 
2. By M'hom was he guided? 3. What made people discon- 
tented ? 4. With whom was the battle of Navarhio fought ? 
5. What new kingdom arose ? 6. Why was there an expedi- 
tion to Algiers? 7. What edict of the king offended the 
French ? 8. What happened on the three days of July ? 9. 
In what year? 10. What became of Charles X.? 11. Who is 
his heir ? 12. Who was made king iu his stead ? 13. Whose 
3on was Louis Philippe } 14. From wliom was he descended ? 
15. Wliat was he to be called ? 16. How was his power 
limited ? 



Chapter XLIY. — 1. What improvements took place in 



Questions for Examination. 499 

France ? 2. Where was a settlement made ? 3. Who was the 
Arab chieftain ? 4. In Avhat islands were settlements made ? 
5. What honors were done to Napoleon ? 6. What parties 
were there in France ? 7. What was the badge of the moder- 
ate ? 8. What was the badge of the violent ? 9. What was 
the badge of the Legitimists ? 10. What was the conspiracy 
against Lonis Philippe ? 11. How did he lose his eldest son ? 
12. What were the great discontents? 13. How was Louis 
Philippe dethroned ? 14. In what year ? 15. What became of 
Louis Philippe ? 



Chapter XLY. — 1. Who tried to bring in order ? 2. What 
did the Republicans want ? 3. What were their watchwords ? 
4. What were barricades ? 5. What was the great day of 
barricades ? 6. Who was then killed ? 7. Who put down the 
Red Republicans ? 8. Whose cause did the French support in 
Italy ? 9. Who were the five parties in France ? 10. What 
did the Red Republicans want ? 11. What did the moderate 
ones want ? 12. What did the Bonapartists want ? 13. What 
did the Orleanists want ? 14. What did hhe Legitimists want } 
15. Who was made President at last ? 16. What was the coup 
d'etat f 



Chapter XLVL— 1. When did the Second Empire begin ? 
2. What relation was the second emperor to the first ? 3. 
Whom did he marry ? 4. How did he alter Paris ? 5. In what 
war did the English and French become allies ? 6, What were 
the battles of the Crimean war? 7. To what war in Italy did 
the French assent ? 8. What were the battles before ? 9. 
Who was made King of Italy ? 10. Who was made Emperor 
of Mexico.? 11. Why did the French give him up ? 12. What 
became of Maximilian ? 13. What vote was asked bv ihe 



500 Questions for Examination. 

amperor? 14. What was the dispute with Prussia? 15 
When did the Prussian war besin ? 



Chapter XLYII. — 1. Where was the campaign in the war 
between France and Prussia ? 2. Wliat was the great battle ? 
3. What became of the emperor ? 4. What became of the 
empress ? 5. What cities were besieged ? 6. How long did 
the siege of Paris last? 7. How were the wounded nursed? 
8. On what terms was peace made? 9. What provinces were 
given up ? 



Chapter XLVIII. — 1. How did the Eed Eepublicans break 
out ? 2. What did they call their government ? 3. Where 
was the real government ? 4. How was Paris besieged ? 5. 
Who were murdered ? 6. What mischief was done ? 7. How 
was it a\^enged ? 8. Wiio are the parties in France ? 9. What 
plan was made? 10. What was Henry's answer? 11. Who 
alone accepted it.'' 12. How is France governed now ? 



^^ «>3 5^ 



